Hundreds throng Beijing’s 3rd Vasant Mela amid thaw in ties

The diplomatic enclave of the Chinese capital came alive on Saturday as over 4,000 Chinese people thronged the third edition of Vasant Mela marking a “new beginning” in Sino-India ties as the two countries sought to normalise the ties breaking the four-year chill.

Organised by the Indian Embassy here, the gathering soaked in the Indian cultural festival filled with a variety of Indian dances performed mostly by Chinese enthusiasts specialising in India’s art forms, and ethnic cuisine.

This year’s Mela had shades of India-China bonhomie as Liu Jinsong, Director General of Asia and India’s point man in the Chinese Foreign Ministry took part in the event.

Welcoming Liu and the vast Chinese crowd, Indian Ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat said spring is a time for “new beginnings, strengthening of bonds and opportunity to experience the essence of India.”

This year’s Mela has taken place in the backdrop of India and China ending their over four-year freeze in relations over the eastern Ladakh standoff beginning with the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Kazan in Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS summit last October.

The meeting was followed by a host of high level talks at various levels holding the promise of a new beginning in the troubled relations between the giant neighbours.