PESHAWAR: A uniquely large Buddha statue that has been in Peshawar Museum for more than a century will soon be displayed at an exhibition in Switzerland, officials at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Department of Archaeology said on Friday.
The department’s director, Abdul Samad, said KP’s Archaeology and Tourism Minister Muhammad Tariq signed an agreement to this effect with Rietberg Museum Director Albert Lutz on Tuesday in Zurich.
The exhibition will begin in December this year and last for three months and 18 days, Tariq said.
“The statue has been insured for $20 million,” he told Arab News. “In case of any damage to it, the money will be paid to Peshawar Museum.”
This is the first time the statue will be taken to an international exhibition. “Every exhibition has a central attraction,” Samad told Arab News. “This sculpture will play that role in Switzerland.”
The KP administration is promoting religious tourism, he said, adding that the province was not only home to the popular Gandhara civilization but is also sacred to Hindus and Sikhs.
“Last year, we did an exhibition about Buddhism in South Korea and displayed 42 objects for three months,” Samad said.
“Young people who’ve been brought up in Buddhist lands after the 9/11 attacks don’t know much about Pakistan, especially KP, and its significance to their religion. We want to raise awareness about it throughout the world.”
Tourists from around the world visit Switzerland and its museums, and their encounter with the Buddha statue will help promote a positive image of Pakistan, Samad said.
The statue is 2,000 years old, said one of the department’s research officers, Nawaz-ud-Din, adding: “It was discovered during British rule in Seri Bahlol in Mardan in 1909, and handed over to Peshawar Museum in 1911.”
Seri Bahlol is a world heritage site located about 70 km northwest of KP’s provincial capital Peshawar.
Nawaz-ud-Din said the statue is 365 cm high and 46.42 cm wide, and the museum has 4,147 other objects related to Buddhism.
Peshawar Museum was established in 1907. Its previous name was Victoria Hall, as it was established in Queen Victoria’s memory during British rule.
2000-year-old Buddha statue from Peshawar to be exhibited in Switzerland
2000-year-old Buddha statue from Peshawar to be exhibited in Switzerland
Pakistan says will press ahead with trilateral cooperation with China and Bangladesh
- Islamabad signals closer engagement with Dhaka amid shifting regional dynamics
- Trilateral platform gains traction after recent China-Pakistan strategic talks last week
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it would continue to pursue a trilateral cooperation framework with China and Bangladesh aimed at boosting regional connectivity, trade and development, as consultations among the three countries move forward.
The framework, launched last year at the senior officials’ level, has gained renewed attention as ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh improve following years of limited engagement, while Dhaka’s relations with India, a longtime archrival of Pakistan, have come under strain amid domestic political upheaval.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad remained committed to the Pakistan-China-Bangladesh cooperation mechanism and intended to follow up on earlier consultations to deliver “practical outcomes.”
“On the Pakistan, Bangladesh and China mechanism, if you recall, a meeting took place last year [2025] at the level of vice ministers and foreign secretaries,” Andrabi told a weekly media briefing, adding that Pakistan looked forward to “positive outcomes” in line with an agreed joint communiqué.
“So of course, the consultations between the three of us would continue in the future to strive for outcomes which are beneficial for the peace, progress and prosperity of our people,” he said when asked specifically about Bangladesh’s role in the framework.
The trilateral cooperation was also referenced in a joint press communiqué issued after the Seventh Round of the China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue held last week.
“The two sides expressed readiness to continue leveraging the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’
Dialogue and the China-Bangladesh-Pakistan cooperation mechanism to deliver new outcomes,” the statement said.
Andrabi said Pakistan’s engagement with China would continue across bilateral and trilateral formats, underscoring Islamabad’s preference for cooperative regional approaches focused on economic development rather than bloc politics.
Bangladesh was part of Pakistan until 1971, when it gained independence following a bloody war of independence. Relations between the two countries have shown signs of improvement in recent months, as Dhaka recalibrates its foreign policy after the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. India has so far declined Bangladesh’s request to extradite Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after violent student-led protests.
In a related development, Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu earlier this week held talks with a high-level Bangladeshi defense delegation on strengthening air force cooperation, including the potential sale of JF-17 Thunder fighter jets jointly developed by Pakistan and China.
