Book Fair: Foreign Exhibitors Seek Business, Cultural Ties

NEW DELHI: The international publishers participating in the ongoing Delhi World Book Fair 2015 here not only want to do good business, but also bridge cultural ties and introduce their literary landscape to the Indian audience.

Gauhar Iqbal who represents Manshurat Publisher and Distribution firm from Lahore, has been participating in the fair since 2006. And to him, representation at the annual fair reinforces the fact that the relationship between the two nations is far away from being "turbulent".

"We don't come from Pakistan only to make money. We are here as cultural ambassadors representing our country. We have to improve the relationship between the two countries and for that it is important to have a presence in respective countries," Iqbal told IANS.

This year they have brought around 30-35 publishers from Pakistan to India and admit that this is the "biggest ever" contingent they have brought here.

"Indians love to read a lot of Islamic books and popular poets such as Faiz and Iqbal. We don't bring many novels to India because the cost of Urdu novels is higher in Pakistan and Indians don't want to shell out so much money," said Iqbal, adding they generate good business from the fair.

Similar sentiments were shared by Mohsen Nasralleeh, international representative of the Tehran International Book Fair, who has a stall at the fair. They have been participating for the past three years.

"This is the best platform to introduce Iranian writers to India. We want to promote Persian language and aid the learners of this language by offering a variety of books on various genres like Islamic culture, novels and poetry," Nasralleeh told IANS.

"We aren't doing much for profit because even though we sell a lot, the cost of our books here is lesser than the amount we pay for this stall. But the fair offers us many business opportunities and helps us to connect with many scholars and teachers," he added, saying they had brought 200 books and many of them have already been sold.

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