NEW DELHI, INDIA, September 30, 2015 (mid-day): India’s foreign office is keeping itself updated on an interesting, if trifle peculiar, slugfest that’s currently on between the Vatican and Indian spiritual guru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The Art of Living (AOL) Foundation founder is miffed at recent attempts by the Norwegian government to hijack his peace initiatives in strife-ridden Colombia. In a year-long effort, Sri Sri managed to broker a peace deal between the Colombian government and left guerrilla outfit FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), mediating on behalf of the latter during peace talks held this July in Cuba. In what was seen as the first breakthrough in three years, FARC commander Ivan Marquez agreed to adopt the Gandhian principle of ahimsa while continuing to chase political goals in a new unilateral ceasefire. In June, Sri Sri had conducted a meeting in Bogota with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos.
Pushed by the Vatican, Norway, which was also part of a four nation pack (including Cuba, Chile and Venezuela) acting as guarantors in the talks, released press notes that claim the peace talks came to fruition because of “painstaking efforts undertaken by a league of Western nations.” Last week, on a 10-day trip to US and Cuba, Pope Francis, the Argentine-born pontiff held a mass in Havana, saying in his address, “May the blood shed by thousands of innocent people during long decades of armed conflict … sustain all the efforts being made, including those on this beautiful island, to achieve definitive reconciliation.”
More at source.