International Ayurveda Conference, Budapest: September 29, 2007=
&nb=
sp;
Address by Ambass=
ador
of India,
Mr. Ranjit Rae<=
u>
&=
nbsp; Hon’ble Minister of State for Health and Family
Welfare, Government of India, Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi, Your Ex=
cellency
State Secretary Katalin Rapi, Shri
Shiv Basant, Joint
Secretary, Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health, the co-sponsors of the
Conference – Hungarian Ayurveda Medical Foundation, Dr. Istvan Riesz, and Debrecen University Rector Dr. Zoltan Szilvassy – and dear friends,
&=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; It
is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to this Conference on Ayurveda, India’s
ancient system of holistic medicine.
I am not an expert on Ayurveda and in the presence of so many lumina=
ries
in this field, I am hesitant to speak about the
Science of Life. Suffice it t=
o say
that Ayurveda believes in balance and harmony within the body and the mind =
and
focuses on both preventive and curative effects of diseases. With its focus on preventive medic=
ine
and healthful living, it can bring enormous benefits to people all over the
world.
&=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; For
me personally, organising the first International Ayurveda Conference in Budapest is a drea=
m come
true. 2007 is also the 60th
anniversary of India=
’s
independence. You might wonder why we selected Budapest for this Conference. The answer is simple. Wherever I have visited in your
beautiful country I have found a deep and an abiding interest in Indian
culture, languages and traditions.
People have expressed great warmth and affection for India. Indeed, our excellent relations at=
the
Government-to-Government level are underpinned by this strong bond for
friendship at the level of our peoples.&nb=
sp;
Then again, I found the people very open to new ideas, new ways of
looking at things and we felt that they would be very open to Ayurveda. You also have a very old tradition=
of
spa-based therapies and we felt that Hungary would be a suitable v=
enue
for us to launch our international promotion of Ayurveda.
&=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; With
so many practitioners, scholars and teachers of Ayurveda from India and Eur=
ope,
it is my expectation that the Conference will not only create more informed
awareness about Ayurveda but it would come up wi=
th
concrete recommendations and suggestions for promoting Ayurveda, improving
availability of Ayurveda products and Ayurveda therapies, including Panchkarma and
massage in Europe. We have already received a very
important proposal from the Hungarian Ayurveda Medical Foundation to establ=
ish
a Virtual Ayurveda Coordination Centre for Europe. The centre would establish a data-=
base
on the status of Ayurveda in all European countries and act as a network for
closer interaction between Ayurveda organisations, companies, practitioners,
teachers and scholars in Europe and between Europe and India. The Hungarian Ayurveda Medical
Foundation has agreed to host this virtual network and I hope that this
Conference would support this proposal.&nb=
sp;
I am also confident that the network, once established, would have c=
lose
links with the Department of AYUSH.
This is only one important recommendation, which I believe will go a
long way in promoting Ayurveda in Europe=
. I am sure our experts and also the
audience would have many more recommendations.
&=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; I
would also like to thank State Secretary Katalin Rapi<=
/span>
and the Ministry of Health of the Government of Republic of Hungary for all
their support, encouragement and assistance in organising this Conference.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Indeed, without their support, non=
e of
this would have been possible.
&=
nbsp;
&=
nbsp; Thank
you.
*****