Minister of State (MoS) for HRD on Sunday inaugurated the India Pavilion at the International Book Fair at Guadaljara, Mexico. India is the 'Guest of Honour Country' in this book fair, and it is the first Asian country to have received this honour, according to a Press statement by Dhotre’s office.
This fair, which is called Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadaljara in Spanish, is the biggest book fair in the Spanish-speaking world. National Book Trust, an autonomous body under HRD Ministry is participating as nodal agency of the Govt of India in the book fair.
Dhotre highlighted the deep literary connection between India and Mexico and referred to the legendry Mexican poet Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz's first visit to India in 1952 who wrote poems on Vrindavan, Shiva-Parvati, and on Amir Khusro.
"India and Mexico are in opposite directions on the world map and are thousands of miles away from each other, but both the countries have great similarities in terms of their people, bio-diversity, family and cultural values, and even climatic conditions," Dhotre was quoted by his office.
Referring to the 150th anniversary celebration of the birth of the Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Dhotre said that Mahatma' philosophy 'Let Our Lives Be Open Books' is the theme of the India pavilion in the fair.