200 foregin delegates visit Kumbh Mela

Guided by the ancient Indian philosophy of (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam), which means “the world is one family”, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has taken the initiative of inviting one foreign representative from each country of the world to witness the world’s largest gathering of humanity, the Kumbh Mela 2019 in Prayagraj. The delegates, from all walks of life, were nominated by Indian Missions abroad and included senior politicians, social reformers, Yoga practitioners, academicians, artists, senior bureaucrats, medical professionals etc. ICCR will also bring out a booklet with the profile of each of these foreign representatives. 

Representatives from 190 countries participated in the event. The programme comprised of a day’s visit for the foreign representatives on Friday. The participants viewed various sites of Kumbh Mela 2019 in Prayagraj. The arrangements for the visit have been made in collaboration with the Mela Authorities and Government of Uttar Pradesh. 
About 200 delegates from various countries accompanied by Union minister V K Singh visited the Kumbh Mela on Friday. The minister, who brought 189 delegates from 187 countries to the mela, said its significance has been enhanced at the global level. “Everyone in the world should know what Kumbh is,” he said.
“This initiative is aimed not only to apprise the foreign representatives about India’s rich cultural traditions but also to convey India’s message of universal brotherhood, peaceful co-existence and global unity to the world,” he said while interacting with media persons. 
Hailing the state and central governments for running successful promotion campaigns for the Kumbh, he said till now, at least 22 crore people have visited the mela and women representatives from Saudi Arabia have also attended the 50-day fair. When asked whether any representative from Pakistan has come here, the minister of state for external affairs said, “There is a Hindu representative, Ramesh Kumar, from Pakistan. He is also the head of the Sindhi Council.”
 The minister took a dip in the Sangam with his wife Bharti Singh. He opined that Kumbh is a Sangam of our culture, heritage and sanatan dharma. “Here you can come across unity in diversity. People of different thoughts, sect, caste and creed come here to take holy dip. We want to show the significance of Kumbh, which is an example in the context of management, where 22 crore devotees have already arrived and give boost to tourism of Prayagraj and adjoining districts,” he said. However, mum was the word for Union Minister, General VK Singh when a reporter posed query about Imran Khan and Mehbooba Mufti. He avoided the question and asked reporters not to discuss anything else except Kumbh.  
After the terrorist attack on CRPF personnels at Pulwama in Jammu Kashmir on Thursday, a delegation from Pakistan reached Prayagraj on Friday. Dr. Ramesh Kumar Bajwani, chief of Sindhi Council, the delegate from Pakistan described Kumbh as amazing, unique and magnificient. He said that Kumbh depicts true picture Hindu religion. He said earlier also people from Pakistan have visited Haridwar and other places. Dr. Ramesh gave message of peace and unity between Pakistan and India. He said in future India will emerge as biggest economy in World. It should be mentioned that after terrorist attack in Pulwama tension gripped both the countries. I want to congratulate the government of India for the way Kumbh is being conducted. I have been here numerous times before but this time I have been called by the government. 
On the matter of inviting delegation from Pakistan, Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said, they are member of Sindhi Hindu community. He further added that being Sindhi Hindu they have been invited by state government.
After the visit to Kumbh Mela 2019, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj will interact with the representatives on Saturday at the Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi. 
Mark Lemti, who was representing Finland, said, “I have come to the Kumbh fair for the first time and the arrangement here is great. Here we are surprised to see that everything is so well-organised.” The delegation came here at 9.30 am Friday and Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh greeted the foreign guests at Bamrauli Airport. They were accorded a rousing reception by Commissioner, Dr. Ashish Kumar Goel, IG zone, SN Sabat and other officials.