Chinese scholars to visit Visva Bharati to mark 75 years of India-China diplomatic ties

Chinese scholars to visit Visva-Bharati University for international seminar on Rabindranath Tagore, marking India-China ties' anniversaries.

About 20 scholars and experts from China will visit Visva-Bharati University to participate in an international seminar on Rabindranath Tagore on April 1 to mark the 75th anniversary of India-China diplomatic ties, said Chinese Consul General in Kolkata Xu Wei.

Mr. Xu said that Rabindranath Tagore, who visited China in 1924, is the symbol of China-India friendship, and the international seminar at Cheena Bhavana at Visva-Bharati also marks the completion of 100 years of the Nobel laureate’s visit to his country.

“We will hold an international seminar with Cheena Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Tagore’s visit to China and the 75th anniversary of our relationship. Nearly 20 Chinese experts, scholars, and artists will be invited to India to attend the seminar,” the Consul General said, emphasising that it will be the biggest delegation of Chinese scholars visiting Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan.

Speaking with a group of media persons in Kolkata, Mr. Xu said that in 2024, a group of scholars and artists from India visited ‘China to Retrace the Footsteps of Tagore’ and the Consulate in 2024 organised a photo exhibition at Visva-Bharati to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Tagore’s visit to China.

Cheena Bhavana (Department of Chinese Language and Culture) at Visva-Bharati University is the oldest Department of Chinese studies in this sub-continent, established by Tagore and Professor Tan Yun-Shan in April 1937 with the great ideas of strengthening the age-old cultural relations and interfaces between India and China.

The Consul General spoke about the need to increase people-to-people ties and said the spring of India-China ties is arriving. On the people-to-people ties, Mr. Xu touched on the Indian Medical Mission to China in 1938, led by Dwarakanath Kotnis, and spoke about the initiatives and activities of the Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis Memorial Committee, West Bengal. He said that efforts are on to resume direct flights between the cities in India and China.

“Before the pandemic, the two countries had launched direct flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Kunming to New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and other cities, with 50 flights per week. The two sides are currently working on resuming direct flights between the two countries as soon as possible,” Mr. Xu said.