solhkhabar | Peace International News Agency Peace International News Agency , Peace News , International Agency News of Peace
Speaking in a meeting with the delegation of the cultural, cultural history and study commission of the Political Consultative Conference of the People’s Republic of China, Beheshti said: “Recent cooperation of Iran and China has led to a satisfactory closeness of the archeologists of the two countries and it seems that Iran and China could be able to take deeper and wider actions.”
Referring to the fact that the activities of the Research Institute would embody all the sciences related to the cultural heritage, Beheshti said that responsibility of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism enjoys national scale and includes all the activities in the areas such as archeology, architecture and urban planning, natural heritage, tourism, traditional arts, and protection and restoration.
Expressing regret over the unnoticeable condition of Iran-China relations in terms of history, he said perhaps the reason for such a condition has been inactivity of communications through land and expansion of marine relations.
Beheshti pointed to the subject of the Silk Road which has once again become a topic of discussion, and said with regard to this issue, it could be expected that once again very close and deep relations between Iran and China could be re-established as has been the same throughout history.
Stressing that Iran-China relations throughout history have been associated with peace, friendship and amity, he said: “There are many works in Iran that are the reminder of China and our relationship with that country, and I think that in China, too, there are a lot of works reminding of relations with Iran and this same issue will serve as a solid foundation for cooperation of the two countries.”
He said: “Although the present generations in Iran and China may not pay attention to such a huge and solid foundation, if we accomplish our work properly in our fields, the people of Iran and China will realize this great wealth that since ancient times has been together with fraternity and friendship.”
Noting that with regard to the history of Iran-China relations expecting the deeper and more expanded relations between the two countries would not be something out of expectation, he said: “The more expanded our cooperation in the areas related to the cultural heritage, the more stable conditions would be created for cooperation in other fields.”
Also speaking at the meeting, Vice-President of the Chinese Commission on Culture, Cultural History, and the Study of the Consultative Political Conference of the People’s Republic of China, Ye Xiaon, said protection of historical and cultural monuments and development of tourism were among targets of the visit of the Chinese delegation to Iran.
Referring to the historical background of Iran and China relations and friendly exchanges between the two countries for more than two thousand years, the Chinese official said in the first century AD a Chinese government envoy traveled to Iran, an unimaginable trip as there were no transportation facilities at that time and even now air travel between the two counties is long and hard.
Referring to the call of the Chinese president for the revival of the Silk Road, he said: “Therefore we should not only act stronger in the field of economy and political coordination, but also we must take effective steps in the field of cultural exchanges and bringing the hearts of the people closer to each other.”
He also underlined the necessity for expanding and deepening relations in the field of cultural heritage with Iran, and said that certainly cultural exchanges will help to consolidate relations in different fields.
Meanwhile, Monir Kholqi, Director of International and Legal Affairs of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism made reference to Iran-China common activities, including signing a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Nanjing University and the beginning of the second season of cooperation in the Tappeh Nader enclosure in North Khorasan Province.
Kholqi pointed to the third international conference on protection and archeological along the Silk Road as another common activity of the Research Institute and China and said the conference will be held with the cooperation of the Science Academy of Austria and the Nanjing University of China in Tabriz in the month of Aban (October-November).
She also referred to Iran-China cooperation in the field of underwater archeology which has been launched since two years ago, and said the Chinese side held the educational courses in this field which were attended by the Iranian colleagues.
9376**2050
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish