The American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) received a delegation from the Republic of India, headed by Ambassador Prashant Pise. AUIB President, Dr. Michael Mulnix, and senior members of faculty and staff welcomed the visiting delegation, and joined them in the opening of the India Corner at AUIB Libraries, the unveiling of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, presented by the Indian embassy as a gift “to the people of Iraq and to AUIB,” and finally in attending an Indian dancing performance.
The India Corner at AUIB Libraries hosts “a collection of books about India, so that our students can learn more about this great nation and its history and culture,” said President Mulnix. For his part, Dean of AUIB Libraries, Dr. Imad Bachir, celebrated the “event of cooperation and cultural enrichment between AUIB Libraries and the Indian Embassy in Baghdad,” considering it also “a thank you gesture for (the Ambassador’s) recent donation of a substantial number of books to the Libraries, covering a variety of subjects, in the English language, by Indian and international authors.” The book donation will be added to the library’s general collection, to become available and retrievable by all members of the AUIB community, and viewable by other libraries worldwide through the LibCat network, a coalition of tens of thousands of libraries around the globe.”
“It’s very fitting that AUIB honors Gandhi, as we share his values of tolerance, respect for diversity, inclusion, non-violence, and human rights. As a university, we do our best to teach those principles in everything we do,” remarked President Mulnix at the unveiling ceremony of Gandhi’s statue amid AUIB campus. On his part, Ambassador Pise affirmed that “our friendship will grow from this first collaborative effort, and it will go further… there’s tremendous potential for various initiatives that we can do together,” as he expressed his great joy at being at AUIB, on his “second visit to its beautiful campus.” His Excellency lauded the Indian-Iraqi friendly, “very strong civilizational ties, dating back to several thousands of years,” and the “seven decades of modern friendship” following the two countries’ signing of the Friendship Treaty, 70 years earlier.