The Second Buddhist Summit kicked off Tuesday in Nepal's southern city of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, with an aim to promote world peace.

The three-day summit on Nov. 30 - Dec. 2, with the theme of "Lumbini: a Symbol of Unity in Diversity -- the Fountain of World Peace," is organized by Lumbini Development Trust, a non-governmental organization, and promoted by the Nepalese government.

More than 1,000 representatives including government ministers, officials and religious leaders from over 26 countries and regions are participating the summit.

"It is believed that the summit will prove to be an effective platform to promote Lumbini as a symbol of international brotherhood, peace and prosperity," Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Nepalese minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation, said at the opening ceremony.

"It will also help to project the birthplace of Lord Buddha as a World Peace City," said Upadhyay, who is also chairman of the summit.

The summit will feature three working papers on the themes of "Indispensability of Peace in the Present World Context", "Lumbini's Development and International Cooperation" and "Developing Lumbini as a World Peace City."

A nine-member China Buddhist Delegation led by Jue Xing, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, is attending the summit.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2004)