Cultural gala in Delhi for visiting China's foreign min Wang

From school students rendering an old Chinese folk song to an ensemble performance by a troupe of Kathak, Odissi and Bharatnatyam dancers, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spent this evening here feasting on cultural heritage of India.

Wang, who is visiting India, accompanied by his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, attended a cultural programme at the sprawling Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in Chanakayapuri, which was organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Earlier in the day, both the ministers held talks on key bilateral issues. At the evening gala, Wang greeted the audience with folded hands, the traditional 'namaste'.

The event began with a song recital by a group of students from DPS, Dwarka, who performed the famous Chinese folk song 'Mo Li Hua' (Jasmine Flower).
 

This was followed by a performance by a Kathak trio, who danced on Chinese-themed music, thus blending the two cultures, symbolising the cultural exchange and people-to- people ties between the two countries.

The third and the longest performance in the nearly 90-minute long event was the ensemble performance by a troupe of dancers titled 'Samaagam'.

Three lead danseuses from the schools of Kathak, Odissi and Bharatnatyam, accompanied by a group other dancers, left the audience spellbound with a series of performances.

Deng Shuyi, a student who hailing from Guangzhou, who attended the event, was amazed by the cultural heritage of India.

"I'm currently studying Hindi in Delhi and it was so nice to see our foreign minister, and him attending this lovely programme. Culture brings people together. I can speak Hindi and those schools students performed brilliantly in my language (Mandarin). Isn't that a lovely feeling," she told PTI.

Incidentally, a couple of students, when approached said, they did not know Mandarin, but "learned the phoenetics" to perform the famous folk song.

"I don't know Chinese (Mandarin). We just got the song transliterated in English and memorised it. But, we practiced a lot to get the phoenetics right. It was a wonderful experience performing in front of the two ministers," said Kanishka, 13, a student of class 9.

Yash of class 8 and Ananya Kumar of class 11 echoed the same sentiments.

Deng, when asked how she felt about the song performance, said, "It was so good. At no point I felt they don't speak Chinese."

Before departing, Wang shook hands with Swaraj with both the hands, at the main entrance of the Kendra.