Indian religious leaders back new declaration of peace in Europe

LONDON: Religious leaders joined those from across the world to extend their support to a new concept of the "Declaration of Friendship" to foster world peace by countering hatred and intolerance.
The contours of the Declaration was laid out by The Hague-based Peace Palace, the Carnegie Foundation and the Elijah Interfaith Institute.
Prominent religious leaders of diverse faith, including Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Christian and Jewish, from around the world would sign the document at a major summit to be held at the Peace Palace in June 2020, an official statement said.
The declaration aims to counter division, hatred and intolerance between people of different religions by promoting friendship between members of diverse faiths, it said.
"We are very grateful that the Indian government also cooperates with us to make this peace initiative as broad and inclusive as possible," said Erik de Baedts, Director of the Peace Palace, in the statement.
He described the crafting of the declaration as a complicated and delicate matter, which follows a careful interactive process supported by experts from the Elijah Interfaith Institute, VU University in Amsterdam and the Carnegie Foundation, among others.
Rabbi Dr Alon Goshen-Gottstein, director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, said: "Several of India's most prominent religious leaders are members of the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders.
"They have also participated in the Make Friends campaign. These include Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Amma Amritanandamayi, Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev, Swami Chidanand (Muniji) and the Ramakrishna Order."
The institute said that religious leaders from the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Christian and Jewish traditions had widely welcomed the initiative.
The idea of the Declaration came from Dutch advertising professional Mark Woerde and his team at Havas Lemz & Letsheal.org.
In 2017, Woerde had initiated a joint video appeal titled "Make Friends Across Religions" by prominent world religious leaders, with the aim of addressing social tensions.
The appeal included personal statements by Pope Francis, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, among others.
Woerde said: "We are very honoured to pass on the torch today to the Carnegie Foundation and the Elijah Interfaith Institute to take this initiative to the next level. I am grateful that last year's video appeal could be the trailer of something bigger and more impactful."
The Peace Palace in The Hague, established as a centre for peace and justice, is owned by the Carnegie Foundation. It houses a major arm of the United Nations outside of New York, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which aims to prevent war between states by applying international law.