Center for Persian studies opened at Indian university

TEHRAN,Feb.5(MNA) -- The center for Persian language and Iranian culture was opened at the Jamia Hamdard, a university in New Delhi, during a ceremony on Friday evening. The establishment of the center is on the occasion of Iran’s Ten-Day Dawn, which is held annually from February 1 to 11 in commemoration of the anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979. At the ceremony, an agreement was signed between Iran’s cultural attaché Karim Najafi and the university’s registrar Firdous Ahmad Wani. The center, which is one of departments of the university, will offer courses in Iranology, cultural studies and studies on Persian language to students in different university levels namely B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. The vice-chancellor of the university Ghulam Nabi Qazi also attended the ceremony during which he expressed his hope over boosting joint research efforts in social and academic projects between the two countries. “Iran and India have joint cultural and historical backgrounds and we hope the center will boost ties between the two countries,” he stressed. At the ceremony, Najafi also pointed out cultural affinities between the two countries and expressed his hope that the center would bridge the two nations. “Considering several ancient books written on Indian culture and civilization in Persian, the center provides an opportunity for academics,” he added. Iranian scholar Hamid Qalandari, who has penned more than 40 books on Iranian cultural, social and religious fields, has been appointed as the representative of the Iranian cultural attaché’s office in the center.