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Honorable Ambassador Palitha Kohona,
Honorable Ambassador Abdul Momin,
Vice President of the General Assembly,
Honorable Susana Malcorra, chef de cabinet,
Venerable monks, venerable clergy,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today is a special day for the devotees and followers of Mahatma Buddha. It is a special day for the people around the world who have been inspired by Buddha’s message of peace, amity and harmony, given thousands of years ago.
Pakistan congratulates people across the globe celebrating this day.
Hundreds of millions of people are celebrating this day with flowers, incense and candles.
But we know that flowers will wither and candles will burn out.
Only the fragrance and the light will live on.
The fragrance and the light have been moving across centuries saying that life is sacred in all its forms. Human life certainly; but animals, birds and insects too. In fact, the entire ecosystem is sacred.
What we hear from this great seer is: Don’t kill. Don’t take what is not yours. And abstain from falsehood. That's what we need to build peace today.
We are all mortal. Ultimately, life ends, decays, destructs; and then renews itself.
What lives on are good deeds, individual and collective. We are here on the planet to live a noble life and to be kind to other human beings.
We in Pakistan have a special association with Vesak.
The land of Pakistan – Taxila, Pashawar, Mardan, Swat, Lahore, to name a few cities – has been a cradle of Buddhist civilization for centuries.
Our land has nurtured the fusion of Greco-Buddhist civilization which we call Ghandhara civilization. Stupas and monasteries still adorn our landscape.
From our land, Buddhism travelled to Central Asia, China and East Asia.
Asia and all other continents have imbibed rich Buddhist culture and art.
Pakistan has been a home for many civilizations and religions: for Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam.
Islam teaches peace, love and kindness. Islam enjoins tolerance and harmony. Islam respects other faiths and religions.
Today is a good day to reach out to other religions, faiths, beliefs and cultures. Today is a good day to cement our bonds for one humanity.
As we celebrate this Vesak Day, we are conscious that we are living in troubled times.
People are being killed in the name of religion. People are being killed because they are practicing a particular religion. Sociopaths are trying to masquerade their senseless crimes and killings as religious ideology.
Today, while we celebrate this day in this ECOSOC Chamber, a clear message should go out to the wider world.
We all believe in the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
We uphold life; we oppose forces of death and destruction.
We the Peoples, and indeed all nations, stand for the fundamental human rights and the dignity and the worth of the human person.
The United Nations is human civilization’s sanctuary for peace and security, global harmony, and dialogue among civilizations.
Let’s dedicate ourselves to eliminating abject poverty and saving our fragile planet.
Let us reiterate that we will resolve conflicts and disputes justly; and address the root causes of strife and hostilities.
This is a day of festivities.
Our call therefore should be for love and kindness, for living together in peace and harmony.
Vesak Day at the United Nations should serve to unite us in our common desire to create tolerant, respectful and peaceful societies.
Finally, I pay a rich tribute to Sri Lankan Ambassador Kohona and his mission for organizing this fantastic event.
I thank you