Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu will pay an official visit to Vietnam and attend the UN Day of Vesak 2019. (Photo: Indian Express) Hanoi (VNA) – The Vice Presidentof India, Venkaiah Naidu will pay an official visit to Vietnam and attend theUN Day of Vesak 2019 to be held in the country from May 9 to 12 at the invitation ofVietnamese Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh.
Vesak 2019, or the 16th UN Dayof Vesak, will be celebrated at the Tam Chuc Buddhism Culture Centre in KimBang district of northern Ha Nam province from May 12-14.
According to the VietnamBuddhist Sangha, around 500 foreign delegations with about 1,650 members from112 countries and territories will attend the Vesak 2019 celebration, togetherwith 15,000-20,000 domestic Buddhist followers and people. More than 500speeches by domestic and foreign scholars will be delivered at the event’smeetings.
The Vesak 2019 celebration is themed “BuddhistApproach to Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for SustainableSocieties”.
It will be the third time the UN’scommemoration of Vesak is held in Vietnam. Previously, it took place in Hanoiin 2008 and the northern province of Ninh Binh in 2014.
The UN General Assembly on December 15, 1999recognised the Day of Vesak to celebrate the thrice-sacred event of the life ofthe Buddha Gautama and to acknowledge the contributions Buddhism, one of theoldest religions in the world, has made to humanity.
The UN Day of Vesak was first celebrated in2001.-VNA