Visit of H.E. Mrs. Ambika Soni, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism & Culture to China at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of China

Press Statement

At the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, Minister for Tourism & Culture of the Republic of India H.E. Mrs. Ambika Soni visited Beijing on 24-26 December, 2006. China’s Minister of Culture H.E. Mr. Sun Jiazheng had a cordial and friendly meeting with H.E. Mrs. Soni on 25^th December, 2006, during which the two Ministers had detailed discussions on bilateral cultural cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Culture of India agreed to impart further momentum to the comprehensive development of official and people-to-people exchanges, assigning a more proactive role to culture in the development of India-China relations, in the spirit of the Joint Declaration between China and India issued by the two governments during the visit of H.E. President Hu Jintao to India in New Delhi in November 2006.

The two sides expressed happiness and satisfaction over the celebration of India-China Friendship Year in 2006, and the cultural exchanges carried out by both sides under this programme. The two sides also welcomed the organization of the “Treasures of Ancient India” Exhibition in four cities of China as a good channel of communication and friendship between the peoples of the two countries. It was noted with satisfaction that the construction of the Indian-style Buddhist shrine in Luoyang and the restoration work at the Xuanzang Memorial Hall in Nalanda were progressing smoothly and were both expected to be inaugurated next year. When complete, they will further symbolize the 2000 year-long friendly cultural relations between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to undertake the following activities in the near future:

(i) Minister Ambika Soni invited Minister Sun Jiazheng to visit India in the beginning of 2007. Minister Sun thanked Minister Soni for her kind invitation, and confirmed that he would lead a cultural delegation from China to India, and formally sign with the Indian side the Executive Plan for Cultural Exchanges for the year 2007-09 during the visit. Mutually convenient dates would be determined through diplomatic channels.

(ii) Minister Sun invited Minister Soni to lead a cultural delegation from India to China at a convenient time.

(iii) Reciprocal establishment of Cultural Centres

Minister Soni hoped that the responsible authorities on both sides will actively work towards early realization of reciprocal establishment of each other’s Cultural Centres in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries in Beijing in 2003. Minister Sun said that the Ministry of Culture of China will cooperate with the Ministry of Culture of India, and will work to actively coordinate with the concerned departments to enable reciprocal establishment of Cultural Centres in accordance with the goals established in the aforementioned Memorandum of Understanding.

(iv) Reciprocal organization of “Festival of India” and “Festival of China”

The Ministry of Culture of India and the Ministry of Culture of China attach great importance to preparatory and implementing work for the organization of the “Festival of India” in China and the “Festival of China” in India. The two sides will undertake concrete consultations on the time and modalities.

Minister Soni thanked Minister Sun for the friendly and cordial welcome extended to the Indian delegation. Both sides agreed that enhanced cultural cooperation between their two countries can raise the bilateral relationship to a qualitatively new level fully in consonance with the aims of the strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity established by the leadership of India and China.

During her stay, the Minister will jointly inaugurate the largest ever exhibition of Indian art in China, the “Treasures of Ancient India” alongwith Executive Vice Foreign Minister of China, H.E. Mr. Dai Bingguo on 25 December 2006. Minister Soni will separately meet with Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Minister of United Front Work Department of CPC, Mme. Liu Yandong, Minister of International Department of CPC, H.E. Mr. Wang Jiarui, and the Director of China National Tourism Administration, H.E. Mr. Shao Qiwei.

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Beijing

December 25, 2006