Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, April 8: The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR, which is celebrating its 70th Foundation Day on April 9, has postponed its grand celebrations that were planned earlier, by a year, in the wake of COVID-19.
“ICCR is all about cultivating an enlightened understanding of Indian culture and when the entire Global community is facing an unprecedented challenge, feeling lonely and disconnected, the message of Indian philosophy i.e. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or the world is a family has become more relevant than any time in the past,” ICCR president Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said in his message on this occasion.
Even in this lockdown situation, ICCR is conducting e-tutorials in Yoga, classical dances and even Hindi and Sanskrit. We are working with a ‘show must go on spirit’. A Global Art Competition on the theme of facing the challenge of Covid-19 unitedly has already been announced and through many such programmes we will rise to the occasion”, he added.
Dr Vinay said that the ICCR was founded in 1950 by India’s first Education Minister, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, with the objective of fostering and strengthening cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and the world, and to promote cultural exchanges with other countries and people.
“During the last seven decades, the functioning of ICCR as an institution has acquired newer dimensions towards promotion of India’s cultural heritage and has emerged as the ‘soft power’ arm of the Ministry of External Affairs through an array of well-designed and targeted programmes,” he added.
He informed that a wide-range of ICCR’s cultural, academic and intellectual exchanges and promotion of India’s culture abroad encompass various outreach activities through its 38 cultural centres abroad and 19 Regional Offices within India, including Indian art, history, oral traditions, dance, music, yoga, languages, food, festivals and contemporary issues.
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