International meet on East-East cooperation in Odisha from March 16

An international conference to deliberate on East-East cooperation in commerce, connectivity and culture will be held in the Odisha capital from March 16-18, in which delegates from 16 countries apart from those from the eastern and northeastern states will participate.

The conference themed 'Purbasa: East meets East' will be attended by diplomats and other delegates, including defence personnel from the Indo-Pacific region, said Lalit Mansingh, Chairman of the Kalinga International Foundation, which will organise the event.

"As many as 16 countries will be represented by high-level delegations. While 10 members from Asean will participate, four are India's neighbouring countries, apart from Japan and Australia," said Mansingh.

"We would like to revive the glorious tradition of Kalinga (ancient name of Odisha) through greater connectivity and closer relationship with the countries," he added.

Sri Lankan Minister Gamini Jayawicrama Perera, and Bangladesh Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism A.K.M. Shahjahan Kamal would be among the attendees.

The Kalinga Saraswati Samman will be conferred on V. Suryanarayan for his book on Indonesia and Sudip Sen for his book on Bali.