Sino-Bangla Desk: “Youth Saloon” of the 11th China-South Asia International Cultural Forum was held under the theme “Pool Wisdom for Development, Present a Vision for Peace”. At the forum, 15 young delegates from South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, had a friendly discussion on the two topics of “Regional Development” and “People-to-People Exchanges”.

The Youth Saloon of the 11th China-South Asia International Cultural Forum was held in China via a video conference on Thursday afternoon.

The Youth Saloon was jointly hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and Yunnan Provincial People’s Government. Yunnan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries organized the event in association with the Kunming Municipal People’s Government.

Ambassador Lin Songtian, President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC); Luo Hongjiang, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Yunnan Provincial People’s Congress; Moin ul Haque, Ambassador of Pakistan to China; K. K. Yoganaadan, Deputy Chief Mission of the Sri Lankan Embassy to China gave a speech in the opening session.

Ambassador Lin Songtian said that China and South Asian countries are geographically connected and culturally similar, share similar historical experiences and face a common development mission. In the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, the two sides have united and helped each other to overcome the difficulties; jointly safeguard people’s lives, health, and safety; demonstrating the virtues of oriental culture and the true feelings of the world, and vividly interpreting the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. However, it is a pity that some countries have artificially instigated and created conflicts between Russia and Ukraine in order to divert domestic conflicts and attention, transfer crises, and seek profits from chaos. It has seriously damaged the stability of global production chains, supply chains and capital chains; causing global food, economic and social problems. The energy crisis and stagnant inflation have caused the people of the world, especially the people of less developed countries to pay and will pay for it.

Lin Songtian further said that in order to meet the security challenges facing the world today, President Xi Jinping proposed a global security initiative, and contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions. He hopes that the youths of China and South Asia will recognize the situation clearly; grasp the “Asian Century”; the practice of the concept of “Asia is one family”; actively uphold fairness and justice; strive to build a more peaceful, cooperative, and united Asia and the world; contribute of the strength of youth to promote win-win cooperation and common development in the region.

Ambassador Moin ul Haque first expressed his deep condolences to the Chinese citizens who were killed in the recent terrorist attack in Pakistan and said that cross-cultural exchanges are crucial to promoting dialogue, promoting ideological diversity, and building a bridge of understanding and cooperation. Positive comments on the “Youth Salon” platform encouraged Chinese-South Asian youth to deeply understand the “Asian Spirit”, eliminate misunderstandings and barriers, and make positive contributions to regional peace, development, and prosperity.

K. K. Yoganaadan praised Sri Lanka-China relations as “truth in adversity”, and thanked China for providing Sri Lanka with emergency economic assistance and a large number of epidemic prevention materials to help Sri Lanka’s economic relief and epidemic prevention and control.

The Regional Development session is chaired by Professor Hu Jinming, Vice-president of Yunnan University in China. The people-to-People Exchanges session is chaired by Dr. Avijit Banerjee, Professor and Head of Chinese Language and Culture (Cheena-Bhavana), Visva-Bharati University in India.

The students invited from Bangladesh to participate in the discussion at the Youth Saloon are Mohammad Saiyedul Islam, a student at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics; Md Saddam Hossain, a student at Sichuan University, and Md Tariqul Islam, a student at Yunnan University.

The youth representatives who attended the meeting praised the friendly and cooperative relations between China and South Asian countries and agreed that they would give full play to their respective advantages, continue the traditional friendship, devote themselves to cross-cultural exchanges, promote people-to-people friendship and heart-to-heart connection, and join hands to build a closer China-South Asia community of destiny.

Zhu Dan, Director General of the Cultural Exchange Department of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries attended and made a concluding speech at the Youth Salon.

More than 200 youth delegates, teacher and student representatives, diplomats, scholars, experts, and professionals from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal participated in the conference.

Besides, government officials from Yunnan Provincial People’s Government, staff from the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Yunnan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries also participated in the Youth Salon.

Since its establishment in 2008, the China-South Asia International Cultural Forum has used various forms of cultural exchange activities to enhance understanding and friendship between peoples and has become an important non-governmental platform for promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and South Asian countries and enhancing people-to-people bonds.