Speech of H.E. Mahesh K. Maskey , Nepal Study Center, HUEB
Hon. President of Hebei University of Economics and Business,
Distinguished Faculties of HUEB,
Hon. Guests of people’s government of Hebei Province,
Media representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good morning to you all. Dajia zhao shang hao !
It is my great honor and pleasure to be here in the inaugural ceremony of the Nepal Study Center being held in this beautiful historic city of Shijiazhuang. I thank the distinguished leaders of HUEB for taking this very important initiative to foster and deepen the understanding and friendship between Nepal and China. To my knowledge HUEB is the first university to host a Nepal Study Center - addressing a long awaited and much felt need. Therefore I believe we all have gathered here today to witness the History in making.
Dear friends,
Nepal and China are friendly neighbors connected by Great rivers and Mighty mountains. A large section of Nepali people is believed to have originally migrated from Huanghe river and Yangtze river basin to various parts of Nepal, via Tibet and Yunnan. Nepal is the birth place of Shakyamuni Buddha and in ancient times Buddhist culture and architectural forms travelled back and forth between the two countries via Silk Road, Salt Trade and Tea-Horse road.
Nepali scholar-monk Buddhabhadra, a contemporary of Venerable Fa xian, came here in 5th century and translated a large corpus of Buddhist scripture from Sanskrit to Chinese language. The Pauva paintings of Newars also appears to have been adapted as the Thangka paintings of Tibet and Qinghai. We can still see the decorative calligraphy by Ranjana script of Newar people of Kathmandu valley in many Buddhist temples here. We all know that the white pagoda of Beijing and Wu Tai san were built by the great Nepali architect Arniko in 13 century.
In modern times after the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1955 AD, both the countries are working together in modality of comprehensive cooperative partnership featuring everlasting friendship. Many distinguished leaders such as premier Zhou en lai and Deng xiao Ping from China and B. P. Koirala and Manmohan Adhikari from Nepal made friendly visits in the past.
During the visit of Premier Wen Jia Bao in Nepal, the year 2012 was declared as Nepal China Year of Friendly Exchanges. Many important visits and activities took place in that year including the celebration of Nepal Cultural Festival in China. In 2013 Former Prime Minister of Nepal Puspa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ visited China and met with the President Xi Jin Ping. This year Rt. Hon Prime minister of Nepal Mr. Shushil Koirala visited China on the occasion of ‘Second China-South Asia Expo’. All these visits have further deepened and strengthened the friendship between the two countries in political, economical, cultural and educational fields.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am familiar with the activities of Confucius Institute at Kathmandu University and duly impressed by the contribution it has made in cultural and educational promotion, particularly in the field of learning Chinese language. Through this institute HUEB is already is in collaboration with the Kathmandu University and Ministry of Education of Nepal. In fact when I was appointed as the Ambassador of China more than two years ago, CIKU was one of the first institution I had contacted to learn more about China. So I became very happy when I learned about the plan of establishing Nepal Study Center at Hebei University.
In Nepal there is a China study center and a few other similar organizations have also come up to have better understanding of China. However, no such center had been established in China, even though some university specialized in South Asia or individual countries of South Asia. Since HUEB has taken a lead in this matter, I extend my heartiest congratulation to all those how toiled hard for materializing this idea. I believe the first major task of such center would be to invite Nepali scholars to visit China and interact with Chinese scholars to exchange ideas and deepen understanding. Such visits should be reciprocated by the visits of Chinese Scholars to Nepal. Nepal Embassy stands ready to facilitate such visits and other needed support for Nepal Study Center.
Although this is my first visit to Shijiazhuang, this city has a very important place in my heart. Here lies the tomb of Dr. Norman Bethune, my hero, since my medical student years. It has also helped us to establish the first Cancer hospital in Nepal about 20 years ago and had been providing batches of Chinese doctors since then. After CIKU, now the establishment of Nepal Study Center is a continuation of the fine tradition of friendship and cooperation.
As the Chinese say, ‘the journey of thousand miles begins with a single step’, I am sure, establishment of this center will prove a giant step in the long journey of in nurturing the understanding between China and Nepal.
Thank You and Xie Xie！
