India-China to hold cultural summits to step-up ties

From K J M Varma
Beijing, Jun 11 (PTI) Buddhism and Yoga, two of
India's most enduing spiritual symbols that made strong impact
on China over the years, would be the focus of the attempts by
the two countries this month to expand the scope of cultural
relations.
The two together are holding a major Buddhist
conference in Beijing from June 18-20 this month and a
India-China Yoga summit around the same time at the Chinese
city of Guangzhou in which eminent persons from the two
countries were scheduled to participate.
The Buddhist conference will dilate on the theme
"Mapping Asia's history and culture".
"It will address how Buddhism defines Asia and became
an integral part of its dynamic history," Arun Sahu, senior
Indian diplomat, who heads the Indian Cultural Centre said
Saturday.
Like in the many South East Asian countries, the
religion has taken deep roots in China ever since Huen Tsang
(known as Xuan Zang in Chinese), the eminent ancient Chinese
monk who travelled to India through the silk route in 630 AD
to bring Buddhism to his country.
Xuan Zang (602 AD - 664 AD) travelled to India, on
foot to seek Buddhist sutras and brought about 657 Sanskrit
texts with him and translated them into Chinese.
He along with another Chinese monk Fa-Hien paved the
way for spread of Buddhism in China.
"While there were many different movements that
integrated regions in Asia, Buddhism stood foremost as a
cultural and intellectual event that linked the region in a
unique way as it moved across the Asian space," Sahu said.
The conference would be addressed among others by
east Indian state Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar who will
be arriving in China Sunday for a study tour.
Simultaneously, the two countries are hosting
China-India Yoga Summit at the industrial city of Guangzhou
from June 16 to 19 in which the 93-year-old Indian yoga guru,
B K S Iyengar would take part along with number of his
associates from China.
Iyengar name has become synonymous with yoga in China
after several Chinese yoga enthusiasts travelled to India
since mid 1990s to learn the art of yoga from him.
Currently, China has about 30,000 yoga clubs, 150,000
yoga teachers and approximately 20 millions yoga
practitioners.
The summit was expected to be a big draw as this is
the first time the octogenarian Iyangar is travelling to
China, Indian Consul General to Guangzhou, Indra Mani Pandey
said.