Bhubneswar, March 21:Representative of various nations at the International Conference of India and Indian Ocean Countries today presented their views on reviving ancient maritime relations of trade and culture.
The three-day conference that commenced on Friday in the city is being organised by the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies (ISCS), jointly with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries.
Union minister for tourism and culture Mahesh Sharma, who chaired the first plenary session today that discussed the importance of historical and present linkages among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries, said: "The IOR region is our prime focus, and our Prime Minister aims to strengthen relationship in the region. With an aim to achieve 1 per cent of global tourism, the Centre has taken giant strides in the past one year."
"We a have 7,500km coastline, of which around 485km is in Odisha, which has a huge potential to attract tourists from across the globe. Hence, we are promoting it by initiating various programs," he said.
Sharma reiterated that the government had allocated Rs 500 crore to create five new tourist circuits in India during the current fiscal. Also, the Centre launched the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (Hriday) and set up the national mission on Pilgrimage, Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (Prasad). Also, visas to tourists from 150 countries would be available on arrival now, he said.
On the second day of the event, two parallel sessions were held. The first session covered three issues - trade linkages: routes, commodities and merchants, religion and literature and migration and diaspora in the Indian Ocean realm.
The other session discussed maritime and humanitarian issues, non-traditional security issues and resources, climate change and sustainable development.
Archaeologist Jean Francois Salles from France, Dennis Rumley, professor of Indian ocean studies & distinguished research fellow, Curtin University, Western Australia, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, chief executive, South African Institute of Institute of International Affairs and historians from India, including Kishor Basa of Odisha, discussed the historical aspects and present relevance of reviving the maritime ties among the participant countries.
The second day concluded with an Odissi dance performance by Aruna Mohanty and her troupe at the famous Udayagiri caves. The dance was based on the seven shades of Indian classical dance.
The conference will conclude tomorrow.
