Dalai Lama calls for a world free of war

DHARAMSALA - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has called for eliminating nuclear weapons and for creating a world free of war, according to a post on the Central Tibetan Administration’s website Saturday.

“We all must seek and work for a world without nuclear weapons, we also need to work for demilitarisation of each nation in order to create a world free of war and weapons,” the Dalai Lama said at the annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Hiroshima, Japan, Friday.

“For this, we must first achieve inner peace and realise that we are all interdependent. Concept of war is outdated, defeat of your enemy is no longer your victory. Destruction of your neighbour is destruction of yourself,” the spiritual leader said.

The Dalai Lama is currently on a nine-day trip to Japan.

He also talked about the importance of cooperation and friendship in building a more harmonious society.

“We all need to work in full cooperation, but it should be based on friendship and friendship comes from trust. But trust cannot come from fear. A society or a nation which rules by fear and intimidation is very dangerous,” he said in the summit on non-violence.

At the start of the session, Weur Kaixi, a prominent student leader who participated in the 1989 pro-democracy protests in China’s Tiananmen Square, called for the release of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo — this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Others attending the three-day summit include former South African president F.W. de Klerk; Jody Williams, a 1997 recipient for her work to eliminate landmines; Egyptian Mohamed ElBaradei, 2005 winner for his efforts to divert nuclear resources from being used in weapons, and Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi.

Hiroshima was hit by the world’s first atomic bomb attack Aug 6, 1945.