Pakistan plans new Buddhist tourism facilities, exhibitions

Mettis Global reported that Pakistan is preparing a dedicated site on Murree Road for a facility to safeguard and exhibit sacred Buddhist relics, as announced by Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurangzeb Khan Khichi. The government is also weighing a move of important relics from the Peshawar Museum to the National Museum, a shift that could ease visits by Buddhist travellers. Khichi argued that such a step could boost religious tourism and highlight Pakistan's Gandhara heritage.

The Shah Allah Ditta Caves will be opened to the public next month, and Gandhara exhibitions are to be staged in several Buddhist-majority countries. A draft Memorandum of Understanding has been sent to Myanmar through the Foreign Affairs Ministry to build cooperation across a range of areas. Myanmar's ambassador to Pakistan, Wunna Han, backed wider Buddhist pilgrimage ties and proposed charter flights, since the two countries have no direct commercial air link at present.

He also said Gandhara heritage carries major religious weight for Buddhist communities in Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and named Taxila, Peshawar, the Swat Valley and Takht-i-Bahi as key sites. Separately, Imran Shokat, the Prime Minister's coordinator on Gandhara, said Pakistan anticipates a group of Buddhist monks arriving in November. Mettis Global added that these steps might back Pakistan's push for tourism tied to heritage and faith, and deepen ties with Buddhist-majority nations.