Chinese youths felt at home in Mizoram

Aizawl, Nov 23 : Visiting Chinese youths felt at home after arriving at Lengpui Airport here because the Indians in this part of the country resemble them.

The 91 Chinese youths, currently touring India as part of youth exchange programme between the two neighbours, arrived here from Kolkata yesterday.

They were received with a Khuallam (‘dance of the guests’) by their Mizoram counterparts and given bouquets by rangers of the Mizoram Bharat Scouts & Guides.

The delegates included SK Ratho, Director Ministry of Sports and Youth services and seven other officials. “Mizos welcome the Chinese youths as brothers and sisters,” sports and youth services director Zoliana Royte said, welcoming them.

Speaking on behalf of the delegates, team leader Ni Bangwen thanked the Mizos for the huge reception they had been given. He noted that Mizoram is a beautiful land and he had witnessed within a short time the inner beauty of the Mizos.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga had hosted a cultural programme and dinner for the delegates, yesterday. Among those who met the visitors were former Mizo National Front rebels who had gone to China during the height of the MNF’s ‘independence’ movement for military training.
The visit of the Chinese youths is a realisation of the two neighbours’ bilateral agreement on youth exchange programme, which allows a two-way travel for 500 youths, each for the next five years.

100 Indian youths had already visited the land of the dragon during June-July this year. The Chinese team had visited New Delhi and Agra and is still to visit Mumbai and Hyderabad.

“It was a wise decision of the government of India to include Aizawl as one of the Chinese youths’ destinations because Mizos believe that they are descendants from China. Some historians even claimed that ancestors of Mizos took part in the construction of the Great Wall of China,” an official said.

UNI

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