IO – Hundreds of people came into the courtyard and building of Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Center (JNICC) at Patra Kuningan Jakarta, on Saturday, 30th November and Sunday 1st December 2019, to take part in the India Bazaar 2019 Bharat Mela held by the Indian Embassy in Jakarta.
Visitors who came were not only Indonesian citizens, but also Indians who live and work in Indonesia, and other visitors from other countries who came to enjoy the culture, food, cuisine and other performances. The event, which was intended to raise funds for the treatment of leprosy patients, secured the admiration of visitors.
Indian Ambassador to Jakarta and Timor Leste HE Mr. Pradeep Kumar Rawat to Independent Observer said, “The key purpose of the event today is to showcase the diversity of India to our friends in Indonesia. There are nine provinces in India which are represented in this event. Furthermore, Mr Pradep Kumar Rawat said that those 9 provinces are demonstrating art, culture, cuisine and their unique identities. “We also want to convey to our friends in Indonesia that like Indonesia, India also has a similar version of ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ that every province has their own diversity of culture which is also the part of a bigger unit called India.
Regarding the diplomatic relations between India and Indonesia, His Excellency said “India and Indonesia have shared a very long relationship. In recent time, our people, our countries and our leaders have cooperated during the Indonesian struggle to reach Independence. Many people have already known when the capital of Jakarta was moved to Jogjakarta in the late ‘40s, India was the only country which moved its consulate to Jogjakarta. People also know that how one Indian pilot came to Jogjakarta to take Mr Mohammad Hatta from Jogjakarta to India. So, our effort is to use the very solid foundation that our leaders have built to improve the very strong relationships in economic, education, security, science and technology and other fields.”
Thomas, one of the visitors, who came to the event with his family expressed his satisfaction, joining the event and expressing his intention to attend the same event in the future. (OHW)