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of Religions at Cape Town (South Africa). Both the occasions provided the largest ever forum of over 7000 representatives of all religions, faiths and spiritual persuasions. Happily, I was included as a member of the drafting committee for the “Declaration on Global Ethic” at the 1993 Parliament and was elected as a member of the Spiritual Assembly of the Parliament. Thanks to the efforts of the Jain group, the Declaration on Global Ethic recognized "non-violence as an irrevocable doctrine”.
I attended the 1992 U.N. Earth Summit of Heads of States and Governments at Rio de Janiero, Brazil as one of the 60 distinguished invitees from public life from all over the world. Earlier during my tenure as India's Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N., I had been closely associated with the First Environment Summit of Heads of States and Governments at Stockholm in my capacity as ViceChairman of the U.N. Preparatory Committee for the Summit. I had the honour to present to the U.N. Earth Summit the Earth Declaration Charter adopted by the Sacred Earth Gathering, which had met a few days before in Rio de Janiero, in which spiritual leaders from different faiths had participated. While in Rio, I also addressed Parliamentary Earth Summit convened by the Global Forum of Parliamentarians and Spiritual leaders. In August 2000 I was invited to participate in and speak at the Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual leaders at The United Nations in New York.
My most delightful experience in the last one decade has been my close and constant association with the Jain community all over the world. J.A.I.N.A. in USA and Canada, Institute of Jainology in U.K. and leading Jain associations in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Nairobi and elsewhere have been doing a magnificent job of mobilizing the efforts and the support of Jains settled abroad for not only encouraging religious devotion, fervour and faith particularly among the youth, but also and more significantly becoming the torch-bearers of the compassionate
Ahimsa: The Ultimate Winner
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