An official opening ceremony for a bust to the great Kazakh poet and thinker Abai was held in the Indian capital to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and India, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
The inauguration ceremony was held by the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov and the State Minister of Foreign Affairs and Culture of India Meenakshi Lekhi. The event was also attended by representatives of the ministries and departments of the two countries, the media and business circles, as well as cultural figures and residents of the capital of India.
In his speech, Sultanov, who visited India as a co-chair of the 14th Session of Kazakh-Indian Intergovernmental Commission, noted that “Abai is not only a great poet, but also a brilliant thinker, an outstanding educator. Therefore, the installation of the bust of Abai here, in the homeland of Mahatma Gandhi, has a deeply symbolic meaning. I am convinced that all these steps will contribute to the further strengthening of spiritual cooperation between the two countries”.
For her part, Lekhi congratulated everyone on the solemn event and expressed confidence that this event would be another important step in deepening cultural ties between Kazakhstan and India.
As part of the event, the guests were also presented with the works of Abai Kunanbayuly “Words of Edification” republished by the Embassy of Kazakhstan in India, translated by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) into Hindi in 2020.
The bust of Abai is installed on the territory of San Martin Park, located next to Abai Kunanbayuly Street (Abai Marg). The administrative buildings of the central state bodies of India and diplomatic missions accredited in India are also located in the immediate vicinity.
