On the afternoon of 18th September, President Li Xiaolin of the CPAFFC met with the first group of awardees of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award in New Delhi, and held discussions on strengthening China-India people-to-people exchanges.

President Li congratulated the friendly individuals and groups on receiving the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award. Li highly praised them for their contributions to the enhancement of mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and Indian peoples, and call them good friends of the Chinese people.

Li said that people-to-people exchange constitutes an important part of bilateral relations. Over the past years, friendship organizations from both countries have organized a series of activities of great significance, and has played a positive role in promoting mutual understanding and trust, and consolidating friendship. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the release of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence co-initiated by China, India and Myanmar. Therefore, the Chinese Government established the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award, to felicitate individuals and groups for upholding the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, strengthening people to people friendship and promoting world peace and development. The CPAFFC is entrusted by the Chinese Government in organizing the granting of this award. The friendly groups and individuals present here are the first group of awardees, who have set a good example of promoting China-India friendship and safeguarding world peace and development. Hope you all continue to make more contributions to the China-India friendship, Li said.

Friendly individuals and groups regarded it their great honor to be given the Friendship Award. They made introductions of their groups or themselves, especially their work to promote bilateral relations over the recent years. President Li also presented certificates of Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award to the awardees.

The awardees are the Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis family, the Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis Memorial Committee, the Department of Chinese Language and Culture (Cheena Bhavana) with the Visva-Bharati University, and the India-China Friendship Association. Dr. Jyoti Mohapatra, secretary general of the Friends of China Society, and Dr. Mohan Reddy, secretary general of the Andra Pradesh Chapter of the India-China Friendship Association, were also granted the award.