Thaindian News

Astana, Sep 9 (IANS) An India Week and Indian Food Festival underway in this Kazakhstan capital is giving people here a unique opportunity to enjoy the delicious cuisine of India prepared with original Indian spices and traditional flavours and with Indian music and films making for a genuine Indian ambiance.
The festival, inaugurated here Tuesday by Indian Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar, will shift Sep 14 to the previous capital of Almaty, where it will run till Sep 18.

The Indian embassy has organised the festival in collaboration with the Rixos President Hotel Astana, Intercontinental Hotel Almaty and Air Astana as part of its continued efforts to promote people-to-people contacts and strengthen bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan.

A graceful Odissi dance performance by Nurgul Amirbekova, a Kazakhstani artiste who studied Indian classical dance in Delhi for three years under scholarship from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) added colour and splendour to the opening evening.

The embassy also displayed Indian objets d’arts, tourist information material and Indian books including recipe books at the venue. After the inaugural function, the 100-odd guests were treated to a variety of exotic Indian delicacies.

The embassy has invited a team of four leading chefs headed by leading Indian culinary expert Marut Sikka to organize the festival in Kazakhstan.

“They will be delighting gourmands and connoisseurs of authentic Indian delicacies during the festival,” an Indian embassy statement said.

Speaking to reporters before the opening ceremony, Sajjanhar underscored the importance of organizing cultural events by the Indian embassy to further strengthen the growing bilateral relations and people-to-people contacts between India and Kazakhstan.

In his inaugural address, Sajjanhar noted that since Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited India and was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade Jan 26, several ministerial and business delegations had travelled from India to Kazakhstan.

The embassy had also organized a major India Expo in Almaty in May 2009 at which more than 70 Indian companies participated actively. This apart, the embassy will be organizing several new events, including a Festival of India in Almaty and Astana, a Tourist Road Show in Almaty and a Conference of Indology.