Li: Kotnis symbol of friendship
During his first visit to India after assuming office, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met relatives and family members of Dwarkanath Kotnis at the Taj Mahal Palace on Tuesday. Stressing on Dr Kotnis’ contribution towards strengthening the ties between India and China, Mr Li said Dr Kotnis was a symbol of India-China friendship. Dr Kotnis’ relatives said Mr Li had invited them to visit China during the 30-minute meeting.
During the special meeting with the Indian doctor’s family — a tradition visiting Premiers and Presidents from China have kept alive for decades — Premier Li recollected the contribution of Dr Kotnis. “The Indo-Chinese friendship has been strengthened by the contribution of the late Dr Dwarkadas Kotnis, who rendered humanitarian help in China,” he told the family.
“It was a most pleasant meeting. The Premier said that D. Kotnis was a symbol of Indo-China friendship and this very word symbol covers the gamut of emotions about Dr Kotnis,” said Manorama, 92, the younger sister of the iconic doctor.
Dr Kotnis was one of the five members of a medical team despatched to China by the Indian National Congress to render assistance to the Chinese soldiers in distress. Dr Kotnis treated wounded and plague-stricken Chinese soldiers on the battlefront during the Sino-Japanese war of the 1930s, becoming one of the most revered and enduring links between the two countries. While other doctors from Dr Kotnis’ team returned to India he made China his home, marrying a Chinese nurse Guo Qinlang and had a son with her. The child was named Yin Hua (the two Chinese characters stood for India and China).
Landing in China as part of Indian Medical Mission Team in September 1938, the young doctor tirelessly served the soldiers battling the enemy.
and a devastating plague that swept the country, sometimes working for three days at a stretch. Strenuous demands of work on the frontline left the Maharashtra-born Dr Kotnis debilitated and exhausted and he died of epilepsy on December 9, 1942 at the young age of 32. He was buried in the Heroes Courtyard at Nanquan village.
“It was a most pleasant meeting. The Premier said that D. Kotnis was a symbol of Indo-China friendship and this very word symbol covers the gamut of emotions about Dr Kotnis,” said Manorama, 92, the younger sister of the iconic doctor.
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