India on June 29 presented English, Russian and Chinese translations of 10 classic works of modern literature written by prominent Indian authors in different languages to the headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri presented the books to SCO Secretary General Vladimir Norov at the SCO secretariat in Beijing.
The SCO is an eight-member economic and security bloc consisting of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
Tuesday’s presentation was a follow-up to the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Bishkek in 2019 that 10 great works of Indian literature will be translated into Russian and Chinese, which are the official languages of the SCO.
Accordingly, the Sahitya Akademi had commissioned the translation project and completed it by the end of last year.
The Indian Embassy here will be distributing the translated books to the Embassies of the SCO member states, Observers, Dialogue Partners and other missions.
The translated books included, Arogyaniketan (Bengali) written by Tarashankar Bandyopadyay, Ordained by Fate (Urdu) by Rajender Singh Bedi, Illu (Telugu) by Rachakonda Vishwanatha Sastry, The Last Exit (Hindi) by Nirmal Varma, Longing for Sunshine (Assamese) by Sayed Abdul Malik, Mystery of the Missing Cap and other short stories (Odia) by Manoj Das, The Last Flicker (Punjabi) by Gurdial Singh, Of Men and Moments (Tamil) by Jayakanthan, Parva: A Tale of War, Peace, Love, Death, God and Man (Kannada) by S L Bhyrappa and The Promised Hand (Gujrati) by Jhaverchand Meghnani.
Presenting the books to Mr. Norov, Mr. Misri described them as 10 master pieces which he hoped will strengthen the cultural bonds among the SCO member states.
“Today, younger generation of the SCO member states are not keenly aware of these enduring bonds of history that unites it and it is our hope and expectation that through this small initiative of translating these gems from Indian literature we will be able to contribute and take forward the understanding that is so important for us to enhance cooperation in all spheres between the SCO member countries,” he said.
Mr. Norov said the books, which showed the rich culture and linguistic diversity of India, will strengthen the bonds between the people of member countries of the SCO.
Last year, India hosted an online Buddhist exhibition showing common linkage of all the SCO member states and organised yoga presentation at the SCO secretariat, he said.
He said the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the SCO to be held on July 13/14 at Dushanbe would be followed by Ministerial contact group on Afghanistan.
The Foreign Ministers’ meeting will discuss 50 documents which included plan of action to eliminate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of the member states and transport connectivity, he said.
