Can India-China cultural ties be revived?

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The 71<sup>st</sup> Foundation Day of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) was celebrated at Swami Vivekanand Cultural Centre at Beijing’s Indian Embassy. The event was attended by a huge gathering of ICCR scholars in China and their disciples who learnt Indian dance and music.</p>
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The occasion also saw the unveiling of the Little Guru by ICCR, the world’s first Gamified Sanskrit learning app. It was jointly launched by Ambassador Vikram Misri and renowned Chinese scholar on Sanskrit and India studies, Professor Wang Bangwei in the presence of several Sanskrit Peking University professors and students.</p>
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Highlighting ICCR’s role in promoting cultural, academic and intellectual exchanges between India and the rest of the world, Ambassador Misri saidnearly 300 students in China in last few years have availed ICCR scholarships and hoped that more Chinese students will do so.</p>
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Appreciating the launch of the app, Prof. Wang said that outside India, China has a very long history of Sanskrit research along with studies on Buddhism. He said, Sanskrit is a basic language of Indian culture and heritage and a way to introduce Indian culture to people adding that India and Chinese scholars can collaborate in this field to deepen understanding between the two peoples.</p>
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ICCR also announced two new fellowships dedicated to music – Bhimsen Joshi fellowship for music and Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan fellowship for Music to encourage research in the field of Indian music. Jin Shanshan, a Bharatnatyam exponent, Yu Feifei, a Kathak exponent and Liu Huiyuan, a sitar player gave captivating performances.</p>
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Chinese children aged six to seven, who are Indian dance forms gave a beautiful presentation.</p>
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<strong>Seoul celebrations</strong></p>
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The Foundation Day was also celebrated at the Indian Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. Talking about ICCR role in promotion of cultural diplomacy, Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan, said, “over the years, ICCR has worked to propagate an image of India that augments its natural historical appeal, boosting cultural diplomacy and foreign policy.”</p>
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ICCR President, Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President, said, ”During the last over 6 years, ICCR has received a new thrust under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi who has shown keen interest to build onto India’s ‘soft’ power strengths.”</p>
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 Among those present, included two distinguished Indologists, Prof. Geo Lyong Lee and Prof. Lim Geun Dong, renowned scholars and recipient of prestigious ICCR awards in the fields of Indology and Sanskrit respectively. They gave a Special Address on Indian Philosophy and Indian Scriptures as a form of India’s Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy and above all means to promote people to people ties between the two countries of India and Republic of Korea.</p>
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A dance recital by the teacher and students of Cultural Centre was also presented during the event.</p>