New Delhi, Feb 10: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today inaugurated the New Delhi World Book Fair at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to India, Saleh bin Eid Al-Husseini; Minister of State for Education, Annpurna Devi; Secretary, Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Sanjay K. Murthy; Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Sanjay Kumar; Chairman, National Book Trust, Prof. Milind Sudhakar Marathe; Director, National Book Trust, Yuvraj Malik, and other dignitaries were also present at the event.
Inaugurating the 52nd edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair, Pradhan highlighted that this year's theme of the fair ‘Multilingual India: A Living Tradition’ is celebrating India’s linguistic diversity and global literary traditions. He also said that the fair is a harmonious amalgamation of literature, diverse cultures artistic expressions and knowledge. Multilingualism is the core of our diversity and therefore, language and books are assets to realise the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047, as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Pradhan added.
He also emphasized the need to nurture a book-loving and book-reading society that fosters forward-looking ideas for building a progressive social order as the country marches to realise the goal of Viksit Bharat.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Saleh bin Eid Al-Husseini stressed the mutual commitment to deepen ties between the countries. He drew similarities between India’s Amrit Kaal and the 2030 vision of Saudi Arabia as there is a shared commitment to a better future.