Mongolia today conferred its highest civilian award "North Star" on two noted Indian scholars-Lokesh Chandra and Mansura Haider-for their contribution to Mongolian studies.
Mongolian Foreign Minister Lundeg Purevsuren conferred the award on Lokesh Chandra, president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), and Mansura Haider, former academic adviser at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), at ceremony at the Mongolian embassy here which was also attended by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
This year being the 60th Anniversary of Indo-Mongolian diplomatic relations, the award has been presented to two Indian scholars for their outstanding "contributions to the development of friendly relations between India and Mongolia and promotion of Mongolian studies".
"India and Mongolia are two of the earliest nations in Asia, with their friendship as old as Buddhism. The two countries are intertwined with spiritual cultural and spiritual bonds based on which our governments have established diplomatic relations," Purevsuren, who is on an official visit to India, said at the ceremony.
The minister also recalled the contributions of professor Raghu Vira, Lokesh Chandra's late father and a renowned scholar who invited students and scholars from Mongolia and revived the cultural and scientific ties between the two countries even before diplomatic relations were established.
In his acceptance speech, Chandra said, "North Star is called Sudarshan in Sanskrit and goes back to a very ancient period of Mongol History. My father was among the first to travel to Mongolia as they were the first Asians to conquer Europe."
Mansura Haider, who was a professor and former dean of the faculty of arts in Aligarh Muslim University's history department, said was the first to give the Mongols an identity was misrepresented in history.
"Khan was misrepresented in history because the contemporary aggrieved historian whose land was attacked exaggerated the tales of tyranny allegedly inflicted on their country. But Mongolians' regard for the land of Gautam Buddha and Indian culture and religion is exemplary".
To reassess the contribution of Genghis Khan, ICCR is going to organize an International conference in Mongolia on "Genghis Khan, his legacy and Indian culture" concurrently with "International Mongolian Congress" in Ulaanbaatar in August.
