(India International Centre, New Delhi, 15 November 2011)

Honorable Dr. Sabharwal, Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University,

Distinguished Dr. J.N. Mishra and Mr. Bambawale, Joint Secretaries, Ministry of External Affairs,

Dear friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me immense pleasure to present, on behalf of the Government of the People's Republic of China, a donation of one million US dollars to Nalanda University.

H.E. Mr. Wen Jiabao, Premier of the State Council of China, made the announcement of the donation during his visit to India in December, 2010, as a friendly gesture from Chinese people to Indian people. It also marks a substantial step by the Chinese side to take an active part in this important and meaningful project.

Nalanda University is a symbol of the century-long cultural and (friendly) people-to-people exchanges among Asian countries in general, and between China and India in particular. China, as one of the world's most ancient civilizations, was immensely benefited from the ancient Nalanda University with Xuan Zang, the eminent monk from China studying and teaching Buddhism there for years, which is a monumental example of China-India cultural exchanges.

The revival of Nalanda University is a key cooperative project under the East Asia Summit. And it will carry on the noble mission of disseminating knowledge and enhancing understanding among different peoples. Apart from the donation of one million US dollars,China had the honor to host the meeting of the Board of Governors of Nalanda University in Beijing last October. Through friendly discussion, a tentatively agreement was reached on the use of the donation. The fund will be used for building a Chinese-style library in the future university. Today we are performing this ceremony to fulfill the commitment of Chinese government and by doing so I hope we can contribute our concrete share to the revival of Nalanda University. I also wish the University a great success.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Against the current backdrop of growing cultural and people-to-people interactions all over the world, I feel the Nalanda University Project will definitely serve as a new platform for such interactions. Moreover, through this project, the mutual understandings and friendly relations between China and India and our two peoples will be continuously promoted in the years to come.

Thank you!