India hopes to boost literary ties and trade with China
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India, the country of honor at the Beijing International Book Fair 2010 (BIBF), which kicks off Monday, is focusing on publications on Buddha and Buddhism, works by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and those on and by the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru to mark 60 years of Sino-Indian diplomatic ties.
India's 27 major English language publishers also have a special exhibition of recent books centering on areas such as science and technology, children's literature, medical and social sciences and English language learning books and aids. In total, nearly 3,500 titles are on display at the India pavilion named A Courtyard of Possibilities.
The organizer said that they hope to deepen ties between Indian and Chinese publishers and intellectuals.
"The slogan of the presentation is Exploring the Middle Path, which not only connects it with the Buddhist tradition shared by India and China but also finds a connect with and echoes India's contemporary endeavors to find a common platform of social, economic, cultural and political dialogue with China," said Satish Kumar, director of India's National Book Trust (NBT), organizer of BIBF's Indian programs.
Kumar Vikram from NBT said that he hopes the two countries can increase their publishing trade, ideas exchange, copyright and translation businesses at the fair.
"That's why we call it exploring the middle path," he told the Global Times. "We try to find the middle ground where we can exchange…Then we hope to promote the visit of publishers from India to Chinese book fairs and Chinese publishers to Indian book fairs."
A roundtable discussion, the first of its kind between Chinese and Indian publishers, is also scheduled to be held. "We hope to have a meaningful discussion on issues of publishing, translation and copyright and I am sure it can be taken forward also and beyond the book fair," Vikram said.
The five-day book fair includes 1,841 publishers from 58 countries and regions from around the world. About 1,000 cultural activities will be held as part of the fair, which is now in its 17th year.
