This emerged during the discussions the Union Minister for Tourism & Culture of Smt. Ambika Soni, now on a visit to Beijing, held with the Chinese Minister of Culture Mr. Sun Jiazheng on bilateral cultural cooperation. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to impart further momentum to the comprehensive development of official and people-to-people exchanges and assigning a proactive role to culture in the development of India-China relations, in the spirit of the Joint Declaration between China and India issued during the visit of Chinese 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. They 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.

During her stay, Smt. Ambika Soni will jointly inaugurate the largest ever exhibition of Indian art in China, the “Treasures of Ancient India” alongwith Executive Vice Foreign Minister of China, Mr. Dai Bingguo, besides meeting, top political leaders of China.