Cultural festival planned in Abu Dhabi to highlight Indian art and culture

This was stated by the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Talmiz Ahmad, in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times.

There are three cultural and literary events planned — a film festival, a painting exhibition, and a literary encounter and dialogue, he said.

Ahmad said, 'Our community's development here is as important as our bilateral relations with the UAE. The better welfare of the community we have, the stronger bilateral relationships we achieve. These are two sides of the same coin.'

'We have a very rich cultural programme for the Emirati community. We will share our contemporary culture with them through cinema, art and literature. There are 1.5 million Indians residing in the UAE,' he added.

'During the film festival in November, we hope to screen eight to 10 films. All these events will be held with the cooperation of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH),' Ahmed stated.

The painting exhibition in February would feature nearly 150 paintings of Indian artists made over the last 60 years, the envoy said.

The third is the literary encounter and dialogue, in which some renowned personalities would participate. It will be conducted in partnership with the Indo-Arab Cultural Centre of New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia.

The embassy will also be a major partner in the Abu Dhabi Book Fair, and sponsor the translation of at least 20 Indian books into Arabic.

'There will be a number of other performances, cultural shows, folk dance and music for both the Indian community as well as Emiratis,' he said.

To a question about some Indians attempting to enter the UAE with fake identification documents, he replied, 'That is very negligible. We are addressing the problem very strongly. It is a problem pertaining to India, not to the UAE.'

On cases of fake certificates being attested by the embassy, he said, 'The India embassy and the Government of India are totally opposed to all forms of forgery, particularly forged educational documents. We are very strict in this regard, we do not attest any document if we have doubt about its authenticity.'

'Everyday, a number of documents are sent to the universities concerned for double checking. The Indian embassy does not attest any document if there is the slightest of suspicion of forgery,' Ahmed pointed out.

'I would also suggest that people should be careful with regard to the use of forged documents. It's harmful for them as they can be arrested. It will also tarnish the image of our country,' he said.

www. anwar@khaleejtimes.com|