China-India Friendship and Inter-Civilization Exchanges Round-table Conference Held in Beijing
By staff reporter ZHOU LIN
THE year 2015 marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India, and also the 60th anniversary of Mme. Soong Ching Ling's visit to India. To celebrate these important historical events, the "China-India Friendship and Inter-Civilization Exchanges Round-table Conference," jointly sponsored by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF) and the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), was held in Beijing on Nov.26, at the Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling.
The past two millennia have witnessed the two neighboring countries of China and India's cultivation of two great civilizations and their maintaining of a long-lasting friendship. Upon the turn of the new century, high-level contacts and visits between heads and senior officials of the two countries dramatically increased. In September 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to India, so promoting the bilateral relations to a new height, and in May 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his first state visit to China since taking office. These landmark events constitute a new momentum in the bilateral relations and at the same time open a new chapter of in-depth people-to-people exchanges between China and India.
A prominent international social activist, Mme. Soong Ching Ling had numerous international friends. Her friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru, former Indian Prime Minister and ex-president of the Indian National Congress, was widely commended as they supported one another in their respective fights for national independence and people's liberty. Their sincere friendship encouraged Indian people to assist in the Chinese People's Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Eventually, an Indian medical detachment fled to China to support the Chinese people's fight against Japanese invaders. In October 1954, Mr. Nehru visited China, his old friend Soong Ching Ling, in particular. At the end of 1955, during Soong Ching Ling's successful visit to India, she received a warm welcome from the Indian Council of World Affairs launched by Nehru.
Executive vice-chairman of the CSCLF Qi Mingqiu said at the opening ceremony that the aim of the small-size, high-level round-table conference, themed "China-India Friendship and Inter-Civilization Exchanges", was to explore possible mechanisms through which to establish people-to-people exchanges and cultural cooperation and steadily improve the traditional friendship between China and India, so forming a solid foundation for in-depth relations between the two countries. This is a cherished heritage, and also a way to jointly create a brighter future for the two civilizations, Qi Mingqiu said.
Director-general of the ICWA and former Indian ambassador Nalin Surie said in his speech that both China and India are great civilizations and have a good tradition of learning from each other's experience in the realms of religion, science, mathematics, commercial trade, and economic development. In the future, the ICWA will consistently strengthen cooperation with the CSCLF to promote mutual friendship and culture exchanges, Surie said.
Guo Yezhou, Vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Council of the China Center for Contemporary World Studies, commented that there are countless touching stories in the history of friendly exchanges between China and India. Nowadays, the two countries have unprecedented opportunities as regards inheriting their traditional friendship and deepening pragmatic collaboration. He invited all representatives from Indian think tanks to join in the Belt and Road Initiatives Think Tank Alliance to promote China's westward opening-up policy and India's eastward development strategy, thereby to proactively discover other cooperative potentials between China's Belt and Road Initiative and India's Monsoon Plan and Spice Trail. We can work in concert with one another other to contribute more wisdom and power to China and India friendship and mutual cooperation, Guo said.
President of China Today Hu Baoming delivered a speech in which he recalled the deep friendship between Soong Ching Ling and Jawaharlal Nehru. He said that Soong Ching Ling attached great importance to friendly relations with India, and wrote many articles in support of India's independence movement. Mr. Nehru praised her, saying that since the death of Sun Yat-Sen, the great forerunner of China's democratic revolution, Soong Ching Ling had become the unremitting flame and soul of China's revolution. A periodical established by Mme. Soong Ching Ling early in 1952, China Today, originally named China Reconstructs, has passed down its tradition of spreading the truth and presenting China objectively to foreign readers, as laid down by its founder Mme. Soong Ching Ling. Hu expressed hope that in the foreseeable future, media of the two countries will strengthen cooperation and communication and bridge the gap between China and India.
The one-day round-table meeting held discussions on six main topics: "Soong Ching Ling and Her Promotion of the Friendship between China and India"; "Cultural Tradition and Friendly Exchanges"; "Trade, Commerce and Economic Relations between India and China"; "The Role of Trading Routes in Promoting Cultural and Spiritual Exchanges"; "Media and Tourism, as Important Determinants of China-India Exchanges"; and "Inter-Civilization Exchanges and the Future of China-India Relations".
