Kuwaiti artists enthrall Indian audience in Delhi
Date: 16/05/2012      Time: 09:58:00 AM
 
Kuwaiti artists mesmerized Indian audience in New Delhi at the "Kuwaiti Cultural Week", that kicked off here late Tuesday. It was jointly organized by the Kuwaiti embassy and the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) to celebrate the strong ties between the two nations. The event was attended by diplomats from various Gulf countries, journalists from both Kuwait and India, academicians, scholars and other dignitaries. A splendid performance by the world famous "Kuwaiti TV Band" enthralled the audience when they brought out a perfect mix of Kuwaiti lyrics with an old Hindi film song - "Bol Radha Bol Sangam Hoga ki Nahin" (tell me beloved whether we will fall in love or not) of the super-hit film "Sangam" of mid-1960s. ICCR Director-General Suresh Kumar Goel hailed that Kuwaiti artistis and said it was a great occasion when the Indian audience got a chance to come face-to-face with Kuwait's traditional dance and music. ICCR formulates and implements policies and programmes relating to India's external cultural relations in a bid to strengthen ties and mutual understanding with other countries. A sponsor of intellectual exchanges with partner countries, the Council also engages in cultural diplomacy. Earlier, as a part of "Kuwait Cultural Week", India's Junior External Affairs Minister E. Ahmed inaugurated an exhibition of paintings, textile and art by Kuwaiti artists at the New Delhi-based "Lalit Kala Academy", a centre of Indian art and culture. On the occasion, the minister expressed happiness about organizing such an event and exuded confidence that the "Kuwaiti Cultural Week" would help in further strengthening the historical ties between the two nations. "Such high-level cultural interactions and exchange programmes should be a regular feature for enhancing people-to-people contact," he added. Highlighting the fact that a large number of Indians work in Kuwait, he said "there are nearly half-a-million Indians presently working in Kuwait, and they are being treated well by their employers." The "Kuwaiti Cultural Week" coincides with the first visit of ten well-known Kuwaiti journalists.