{"id":5892,"date":"2017-05-22T16:14:48","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T10:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanhc.lk\/?p=5892"},"modified":"2020-01-09T00:09:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T18:39:44","slug":"buddhist-monks-acknowledge-pakistans-support-in-every-need-of-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/?p=5892","title":{"rendered":"Buddhist monks acknowledge Pakistan\u2019s support in every need of hour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/2017\/05\/buddhist-monks-acknowledge-pakistans-support-in-every-need-of-hour\/photo-and-caption\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5893\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-5893\" title=\"Photo and caption\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Photo-and-caption-300x204.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/2017\/05\/buddhist-monks-acknowledge-pakistans-support-in-every-need-of-hour\/picture-and-caption\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5894\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-5894\" title=\"Picture and Caption\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture-and-Caption-300x204.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">ISLAMABAD, May 22 (APP): \u201cPakistan is a real friend of Sri Lanka who always stood with it in conflicted situations, natural calamities and every hour of need which the whole Lankan nation acknowledge and admire\u201d.<br \/>\nThese views were expressed by head of Sri Lankan buddhist monks\u2019 delegation, Professor N. Gnanaratana while talking to APP during the opening ceremony of \u2018Vesak Mela\u2019 which kicked off on Monday at a local hotel.<br \/>\nReferring to a famous quote, \u201cA friend in need is a friend indeed\u201d, Professor N. Gnanaratana said, \u201cPakistan is true friend of Sri Lanka and this is not only the observation of Sri Lankan government but the ordinary people also think in this way\u201d.<br \/>\nHe said, \u201cWhenever there is any debate or issue at international forums, Pakistan has always raised its voice in favour of Sri Lanka\u201d.<br \/>\nBoth the countries have many cultural similarities and have great love and respect for each others religion, he said.<br \/>\nTo a question, Professor N. Gnanaratana said, Pakistan and China are two of the countries which always extended unconditional support and love to Sri Lanka and its people.<br \/>\nHe said from Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari and especially the present leadership, all had played vibrant role in strengthening ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.<br \/>\nTalking to this news agency, the female buddhist monks including P. Dhammanande, M. Seelapriga and A. Summanaseeli, they said, \u201cWe are in Pakistan for the first time and very excited about our journey to the sacred places of taxila and Takht Bai\u201d.<br \/>\nThey said, \u201cWe are impressed with the arrangements of this festival in Pakistan, warm welcome by the officials and hospitality of Pakistani people. It is just like we are at our second home\u201d.<br \/>\nA delegation of around 40 buddhist monks and visitors from Sri Lanka headed by Professor N. Gnanaratana reached Pakistan on Sunday to attend \u2018Vesak Mela\u2019 celebrations being arranged by National History and Literary Heritage (NH&amp;LH) Division.<br \/>\nFederal Secretary for NH&amp;LH Division, Engineer Aamir Hasan, Joint Secretary, NH&amp;LH Division, Syed Junaid Ikhlaq and High Commissioner of Sri Lanka for Pakistan, Maj. General \u00ae Jayanath C.P Lokuketagodage were present in the opening ceremony.<br \/>\nAddressing the opening ceremony, Engineer Aamir Hasan said Pakistan and Sri Lanka have inherited a rich cultural heritage and strong cultural relations which are deep rooted in our history.<br \/>\nHe said that ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka became stronger due to the peace loving religions of Islam and Buddhism.<br \/>\nBeing custodian of the buddhist heritage, the Pakistani government is equally participating and celebrating Vesak festival.<br \/>\nThe arrangements of buddhist pilgrimage to the holy places at Taxila and Takht Bai will further strengthen deep cultural ties between the two countries.<br \/>\nOn the occasion, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka for Pakistan, Maj. General \u00ae Jayanath C.P Lokuketagodage appreciated the efforts of Advisor to Prime Minister on NH&amp;LH, Irfan Siddiqui, Federal Secretary, Engineer Aamir Hasan and other officials of the division for celebrating \u2018Vesak Mela\u2019 and inviting Sri Lankan monks to Pakistan every year.<br \/>\nHe said, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are tied in the bonds of mutual love and respect and such activities will further strengthen people-to-people relations.<br \/>\nThe Sri Lankan delegation of Buddhist monks will be taken to the historical buddhist spots of Taxila and Takht Bai by the officials of the NH&amp;LH Division where they will perform their religious rituals.<br \/>\nThe officials of the division will also brief the monks about the historical significance of these places.<br \/>\nThe Vesak day is celebrated to commemorate events of significance to the Buddhist of all traditions: the birth, enlightenment and the passing away of Gautama Buddha.<br \/>\nThe Vesak festival, also known as Buddha Purnima (full moon) and Buddha Day, is a holiday observed traditionally on different days in all Buddhist countries of Asia and other parts of the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD, May 22 (APP): \u201cPakistan is a real friend of Sri Lanka who always stood with it in conflicted situations, natural calamities and every hour of need which the whole Lankan nation acknowledge and admire\u201d. These views were expressed by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,64],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5892"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8222,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892\/revisions\/8222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}