ICI joined the Center for Global Asia at NYU Shanghai and the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (National University of Singapore) on October 20 to inaugurate their collaborative “China-India Dialogue Series.” Romila Thapar, the distinguished Indian historian and Emeritus Professor of History at JNU, gave a talk titled, “An Indian Historian in Dunhuang,” which reflected on her visit to the famous Buddhist grottos and another archaeological site in China in 1957. Professor Thapar’s new book Gazing Eastwards: Of Buddhist Monks and Revolutionaries in China, 1957 is based on the detailed diary she kept during the trip. Adhira Mangalagiri, Lecturer in the Department of Comparative Literature at Queen Mary University of London, and Tansen Sen, the Director of the Center for Global Asia at NYU Shanghai, conversed with Professor Thapar about India-China exchanges in the 1950s and her encounters with Chinese officials and ordinary residents during her journey.
Access the complete conversation below