Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t57.4

v2.c15.s2.t57.4

One of his great contributions pertains to the studies of cultural ties between India and China in particular, and Southeast Asia in general. He observed Hindu and Buddhist missionaries as cultural colonisers of this vast region. During his visits to different countries, he was able to identify and collect a huge number of relics and manuscripts. He was supported by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Chou En-lai and other contemporary Asian leaders in his work. When he came back from China after a three-month tour in 1956 he carried a baggage of 300 wooden boxes with him containing the rarest of finds, antiques and manuscripts bearing on the deep cultural contacts between China and India.