25 April 2011

Honourable Prof. Rajni Abbi, Mayor of Delhi

Honourable Mr. Jiang Jufeng, Governor of Sichuan Province

Honourable Dr. Subramanyam Swamy, President of Janata Party

Honourable Maj. Ved Prakash, Secreatary of All Inida Congress Committee

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good Evening! It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to join us at the Sichuan Food and Wine Festival. This festival is part of "Experience China· Sichuan Week in India", as well as one of the events of the "Year of China-India Exchange" declared by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year and officially launched by Chinese President Hu Jintao and India Prome Minsiter Manmohan Singh about one week ago in Sanya, Hainan Province, China.

Sichuan is famous for its many unique features. Apart from the giant panda, I am sure the most well known one is its delicious spicy food. I am not a gastronome. But I know to make genuine Sichuan food requires not only skill, but also a lot of ingredients to give the best color, aroma and taste of the food. Sichuan food is so popular and widely spread that in almost all Chinese restaurants in every corner of the world you will discover one or two dishes originated from Sichuan Food. In Chinese culture, food is not just something you grab when you are hungry, rather a living art.

Besides, Sichuan also produces high quality tea, wine and liquors, such as Wu Liang Ye, Shui Jing Fang, Jian Nan Chun, just to name few. Good wine accompanied by delicious food can make you feel heavenly enjoyable.

I can go on talking about nice things about Sichuan for hours. But I do not want to keep your mouths watering. So I shall stop here and hope you all enjoy this evening.

Thank you!