Indian guru Ravi Shankar ready to hold talks with Taliban

Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar today offered to hold talks with the Taliban to usher in peace in the region, saying it would help foster understanding among people with divergent views.

"I am ready to go and talk to the Taliban. I want to talk to them, understand them and give them my opinion. So we can definitely make a difference. We should try it again and again even if we have to try it 100 times," Ravi Shankar said during an interaction with the public and media in the Pakistani capital.

Responding to a question on what leaders could do to usher in peace in the region, the spiritual guru said "most of the trouble is created by rhetoric" and people should instead work for a future filled with hope.

"People find importance in creating such dangerous situations. They should stop and give more hope to people," he said.

Ravi Shankar, currently on a three-day private visit to Pakistan, inaugurated a centre for his Art of Living movement at Bani Gala on the outskirts of Islamabad.

He also met with a group of Muslim clerics and some political leaders.

Answering questions from the media and the public, Ravi Shankar said decision-makers should be "calm and collective" while tackling serious issues.

Life becomes worth living, he said, when people are able to be of help to others.

"When decision-makers are in high tension or angry, they will project the same thing in their decisions. They should do some meditation and relax, especially when they have to make a serious decision that will impact a lot of people," he said.

He said he was happy to see the enthusiasm with which the Pakistani people had welcomed him.