On September 12, 2022, Nur-Sultan held a session of the Working Group of the Congress Secretariat under the chairmanship of Bolat Sarsenbayev, the Commissioner for the Promotion of the Goals and Objectives of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and Chairman of the Board of the Nazarbayev Center for the Development of Interfaith and Intercivilizational Dialogue.
The session was attended by Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Congress, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akhan Rakhmetullin, Deputy Head of the Congress Secretariat, Vice Minister of Information and Public Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Egizbayev, as well as representatives of reputable international organizations and religious associations of Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, the Russian Federation, the Vatican, Great Britain, Korea, India.
Opening the session of the Working Group, Bolat Sarsenbayev, Commissioner for the Promotion of the Goals and Objectives of the Congress, said that the annual meetings in Kazakhstan within the framework of the Congress institutes present a unique opportunity to compare notes and hold thorough and timely discussions on the most pressing issues of civilizations and the postulates of the Congress.
"The successful activity of the Congress is our joint contribution to the global intercivilizational and interfaith dialogue. In the light of global contemporary challenges, we need a leap in the evolution of the Congress. I call on you to move forward together in this direction," Bolat Sarsenbayev stressed.
During the session of the Working Group, the participants had a constructive exchange of views on the agenda, discussion of the topics of the VII Congress and its format.
In addition, the Nazarbayev Center for the Development of Interfaith and Intercivilizational Dialogue and the Somaya Vidyavihar Institute for the Study of Indology and Interreligious Dialogue (Mumbai, India) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed on the sidelines of the Congress.
Supporting Kazakhstan's initiatives, conceptual ideas and tasks of the Congress, the participants of the Working Group reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of peace and tolerance, as well as their further readiness to contribute to the joint search for ways and solutions to ensure dialogue between the leaders of world and traditional religions and in particular to develop and formulate common positions on the approved program documents of the upcoming XX Session of the Congress Secretariat.
