Tehran literary meeting achieves reconciliation between Indian and Pakistani diplomats

A meeting on Urdu language and literature, which was organized by the Persian literary monthly Bokhara in Tehran on Sunday evening, brought reconciliation, on the surface at least, between the ambassadors of India and Pakistan, despite the cold war dominating political relations between the two countries, AVA Diplomatic reports.Pakistani Ambassador Noor Mohammad Jadmani and Indian Ambassador Shri D.P. Srivastava sat next to each other during the session held at the Mahmud Afshar Foundation.

 Bokhara director Ali Dehbahsi welcomed the Persian and Urdu literature scholars and students, and invited the Indian ambassador to make the opening speech.

However, Shri D.P. Srivastava asked the Pakistani ambassador to begin the ceremony with his words.

Expressing his thanks to Shri D.P. Srivastava and Dehbashi, Noor Mohammad Jadmani expressed his appreciation of the scholars that have been teaching the Urdu language at the University of Tehran for the past 23 years.

The Urdu language is the language of Pakistan, he said, adding, Urdu is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Specifically, it ranks third after Chinese and English.

He mentioned that Urdu has been spoken since the 16th century and the Persian language has had a significant role, due to its structure, in the promotion of Urdu, which is a living international language.

The Indian ambassador also made a brief speech and said that Urdu is also spoken in his hometown (Lucknow), and although Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, it is also spoken in India; it is one of the six main languages of India.

He called it a great honor that Urdu is the shared language of India and Pakistan.

Scholars Ali Bayat and Vafa Yazdanmanesh also presented their lectures on Urdu language.

The Iranian Avaye-Zamin Ensemble, conducted by Arash Aryan and accompanied by Indian tabla player Darshan Anand, gave a performance as the closing program of the event.

Photo: Indian Ambassador Shri D.P. Srivastava (L) and Pakistani Ambassador Noor Mohammad Jadmani attend a meeting on the Urdu language and its literature in Tehran on October 19, 2014.