China-India photo exhibit, major attraction at New Delhi book fair

Inside hall No.7 at Pragati Maidan, a vast ground venue designed for exhibitions, a pavilion set amid bookstalls in New Delhi World Book Fair-2020 takes visitors down a memory lane into over 2,000 years of cultural exchanges between China and India through photographs.

The exhibition was inaugurated Saturday by Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong, who also walked through the sections to see photographs on display.

According to officials in charge of the event, the exhibition presents a chronological and comprehensive account of people, objects and events in the history of China-India cultural exchanges.

"Our photos trace the relationship that India and China enjoyed in the past," said Jiang Jingkui, a professor of Indian Studies at Peking University. "We are working toward strengthening our bilateral relations and I invite the people of India to visit China and explore it."

The photo exhibition showcased photographs of ancient leaders, philosophers and modern-day political leaders from both countries.

"China-India relations are very complicated, which cannot be fully illustrated with a hundred photos and thousands of words," reads a note put at the end of the photo exhibition. "We have selected the photos with descriptions in hope of giving you a general account of the 2,000 years of cultural exchanges between China and India."

Few cubicles away from the pavilion is China's bookstall conspicuously showcasing Chinese books in English.

"If you want to understand China, you have to read about China, then only you can understand its history, culture, science and technology and its economics," the Chinese ambassador said while delivering a keynote lecture at the Chinese stall during the book fair.