A photo exhibition and seminar is being held at the Indian Museum titled Imprints of Indian Culture in Vietnam to mark the 133 birth anniversary of former President Ho Chi Minh.

The event is being organized by the ministry of culture and Indo-Vietnam Solidarity Committee. Prem Kapoor, vice-president of Indo-Vietnam Solidarity Committee said the friendship between India and Vietnam is more than 2,000 years old. It started with maritime trade by Indian traders.

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The trade continued for many years. Many of the traders, mostly Hindu, settled in Vietnam. Once they settled there, they started building temples for worshiping and even took with them priests and people for their security.

“They established Hindi kingdoms there, which existed for 1,200 years or so. Later, they had clashes with the local communities, which captured the Hindu kingdoms. As a result the Hindus assimilated with the local people. They are called Chams.

This link is unknown to many of the Indians. To erase this ignorance, we are organising this week-long exhibition,” said Mr Kapoor. The Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculptures in Vietnam contains many artifacts of Hindu gods and goddesses. Pictures of these will be on display here. The seminar will have scholars discuss the imprints of Indian culture in Vietnam.

Mr Kapoor hoped that Indian tourist numbers, very less now, will increase many fold with the starting of many direct flights between the two countries. Ambassador of Vietnam to India Nguyen Thanh Hai was also present on Thursday. He extensively spoke about the rich history India and Vietnam share and the mutual admiration that has flourished over centuries.

“The ties that bind us are woven by fabrics of friendship. Bengal is a land of heroes. Many Indian heroes were born here. The streets of Kolkata reverberated with the slogan tomar naam, amar naam Vietnam Vietnam (your name, my name Vietnam Vietnam). That was really touchy and Vietnamese people can never forget,” said the Ambassador.

He also mentioned the special relation between the two leaders Ho Chi Minh and Mahatma Gandhi and the fact that even Buddhism was introduced in Vietnam by Indian Buddists.