Your Excellency Mr. Venkataraman, Former President of India,

Your Excellency Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting,

Mr. Singhvi, President of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts,

Professor Choudhuri,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me welcome you all to the photo exhibition--Crisis: Test and Response. Your presence is seen not only as an honour for us but also as a demonstration of your sympathy and support to the Chinese people. My heartfelt thanks also go to Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts for its co-sponsorship. Here, on this special occasion, an air of friendship is truly felt.

It is indeed with special frame of mind that we are present at this exhibition. In the spring this year, an unexpected visitor called SARS broke into people's life. From Hong Kong to Beijing, from Singapore to Toronto, the lives of the people in 33 countries and regions were seriously threatened by the unknown and deadly epidemic. In the combat against SARS, China was at the very forefront. At the initial stage, the force of SARS was so fierce that its very name became a most frightening word among people. However, the panic did not last long; courage, calm and fortitude, which are the inbred elements of the Chinese nation in the time of crisis, once again asserted themselves. The Chinese Government, taking great care of its people's lives and earnestly bearing its responsibilities to the international community, took strict and effective measures to contain SARS, which the exhibition will fully reflect. Moreover, the whole society was mobilized. Medical workers were working day and night; great sacrifice, even that of their lives, were made in that battle; humanitarianism found its most vivid show in them. Gratifyingly, all those efforts, all those sacrifices, have not been made in vain. Now the cloud of SARS is dispersed and normal life returns to the people. To them, after such an ordeal, the blue, clear sky will appear much, much dearer.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, in a globalized world as ours, no battle against the common enemy of the humanity can be won without international cooperation and efforts. Throughout our struggle against SARS, we have been in close contacts with the WHO and great efforts were made in cooperation with other countries to fight the epidemic. In this process, aids came from various countries and peoples. It must be mentioned that Indian friends, like other sympathetic peoples, also extended their helping hands to the Chinese people, the details of which are for you to see in the exhibit later rather than for me to expound here. But may I add just one more point. On June 24, when Prime Minister Vajpayee was in Beijing during his China visit, the WHO removed the Chinese capital from its list of travel advisories and blacklist of SARS-infected areas, and the Prime Minister immediately conveyed his hearty congratulations to President Hu Jintao. To me, such happenings appear to be more than a coincidence. Rather, they demonstrate the goodwill of our two governments and peoples toward each other. It is my hope that with such goodwill and building on Prime Minister Vajpayee's successful visit to China, the long-term constructive and cooperative partnership between our two nations will prosper, bloom and bear fruits. Let's work together for this.

Thank you.