In the quiet hills of Taxila, the wind still moves through the ruins of ancient monasteries. Stone stupas stand where monks once prayed, studied and welcomed travellers who had walked for months from distant lands. These stones have seen empires rise and fall. Today, they carry a message for Pakistan and China, and it is a message worth hearing.

Pakistan holds one of the richest chapters of Buddhist history in the world. The land of Gandhara, stretching across Taxila, Peshawar, Mardan, Swat and Charsadda, was once a great centre of art, learning and faith. From here, ideas travelled along the Silk Road to Central Asia and China. Yet this heritage is still seen mostly as a tourist attraction. It can be much more. It can become a bridge between two peoples.

Taxila once sat on a branch of the Silk Road linking China with the West.

Taxila once sat on a branch of the Silk Road linking China with the West.

Over the past decade, CPEC has built roads, power plants and ports. Its next phase, CPEC 2.0, looks beyond concrete and steel. It speaks of knowledge, innovation, youth and closer ties between people. If the first phase connected places, the second can connect hearts and minds. Gandhara is a natural place to begin.

It also sits well with China’s Global Civilisation Initiative, which calls for dialogue and mutual learning among civilisations. Gandhara is living proof of that idea. Here, South Asian, Hellenistic and Central........

© Daily Times