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PATAN: Speakers at Nepal Dialogues Summit 2023 on Monday highlighted the significance of dialogue in conflict resolution.
Opening the Nepal Dialogues Summit 2023 organised by 34 various organisations, including the Nepal Dialogues Initiative and UNESCO, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati said conflict is created when one does not accept the existence of the other, seeks to spread power and influence upon others, captures the resources and fails to distribute them fairly and due to the environmental degradation. He asserted that Nepali society is functioning on the basis of acceptance of the coexistence of and respect for each other.
"Today's development should be nature and culture-friendly. There can be no sustainable development by destroying nature and culture. Destruction and anomalies invite conflict, and so do the exploitation and crass negligence towards nature. So, we should move ahead in the campaign of promoting peace through dialogue to prevent conflict," Minister Kirati said.
Stating that we have multi-religious holy places across the country, he said our Vedic tradition and geography are also conflict-avoiding. The Minister stressed the need for the cooperation, coordination and collaboration of the international community in maintaining peace by means of dialogue.
Referring to the historic changes made possible by the 2006/7 People's Movement, he said the peace process was initiated through the 12-point understanding backed up by dialogue. He added that the constitution was drafted through the Constituent Assembly by holding dialogue with the people.
Pointing out that the social sites have presently become a means of inciting violence in recent days in Nepal, the Culture Minister said the government shut TikTok for some time as the social harmony was being disturbed by misusing this platform.
"There is this complaint that the creative things of some people have been dissuaded due to the closure of TikTok. I accept this and I apologise for it. But on top of this, activities like spreading anarchy and wrong messages through this platform had been taking place, which was undermining the social harmony, prompting the government to shut TikTok," he explained.
Keynote speaker Prof Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and Michael Croft, Head of Agency and Country Representative, UNESCO, among the speakers, highlighted the significance of dialogue in conflict resolution.
Coordinator of Nepal Dialogues Initiative, Ram Tiwari, said the Nepal Dialogues Summit have been held every year since 2018, focusing on building sustainable peace through facilitation by means of dialogue.
The Summit will run for three days.
