Singapore: Visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo to India, 19 - 21
February 2009

Minister
for Foreign Affairs George Yeo will visit India from 19 to 21 February
2009 to participate in the fifth and final Nalanda Mentor Group (please
see Annex for a complete list of members of the Group) Meeting in Bodh
Gaya, Bihar, India. He will be accompanied by Professor Wang Gungwu,
Chairman of East Asia Institute and Alternate Member of the Nalanda
Mentor Group, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
representatives from the Singapore Buddhist Federation and Singapore
Buddhist Lodge.





Chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen (Economics Department,
Harvard University), the Nalanda Mentor Group aims to conceptualise the
revival of the proposed Nalanda University in Bihar, India. The ancient
Nalanda University, established in about 5th century AD or earlier, was
pre-eminent for over seven centuries, with about 10,000 international
students and 1,500 teachers at its prime. Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh announced at the East Asia Summit in Cebu in January
2007 that India intended to redevelop Nalanda University as a centre
for learning and inter-faith dialogue, and that India welcomed
cooperation from member countries of the East Asia Summit. Singapore
hosted the inaugural meeting of the Nalanda Mentor Group in July 2007
and three further meetings were held in Tokyo, New York and New Delhi.
To help raise public awareness of the project, an exhibition "On the
Nalanda Trail: Buddhism in India, China and Southeast Asia" was held by
the Asian Civilisation Museum in Singapore from November 2007 to March
2008. The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies has also organised an
international conference on "Buddhism Across Asia: Networks of
Material, Intellectual and Cultural Exchange" in Singapore from 16 to
18 February 2009. Professor Amartya Sen gave a special keynote address
on Nalanda at this conference earlier today. He departs Singapore for
Bihar to attend the Nalanda Mentor Group meeting tomorrow.



The 5th Nalanda Mentor Group Meeting in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, seeks to
complete the discussion on the establishment of the Nalanda University.
After the meeting in Bodh Gaya is concluded, India is expected to
present its proposal to the East Asia Summit (EAS) for endorsement at
the next meeting in Thailand.



Professor Amartya Sen, Minister Yeo and other members of the Nalanda
Mentor Group will also visit the site of the new Nalanda University in
Bihar and meet Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar to discuss the
establishment of the new University.


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