53rd New Delhi World Book Fair to honour Indian armed forces at theme pavilion

New Delhi, With free entry for all for the first time in its history, the New Delhi World Book Fair will open here at Bharat Mandapam on January 10 with "Indian Military History: Valour and Wisdom @75" as its central theme, the National Book Trust announced on Thursday.

The 53rd edition of the "world's largest B2C book fair" will be inaugurated by Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan with dignitaries from the guest of honour country Qatar and the focus country Spain.

The nine-day book fair will bring together over 1,000 publishers from more than 35 countries, host about 600 literary activities with nearly 1000 speakers and is expected to "attract over two million visitors".

The highlight of this year's book fair will be the theme pavilion titled "Indian Military History: Valour and Wisdom @75", honouring the courage, sacrifice and nation-building role of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force since Independence.

"We are using this particular theme to salute our armed forces. We are focusing on the significant contributions of the Indian armed forces Army, Navy, and Air Force to nation building, defence, unity and progress. It has a very dedicated pavilion and literary events to showcase this particular theme, and I'm sure you all will get enriched from the material which we are displaying," Milind Sudhakar Marathe, chairman NBT, said at a press conference.

He added that in continuation of NBT's commitment of making "books and knowledge more open and accessible to all", the book fair will have free entry for all visitors for the first time in its history.

"For the first time in the history of NBT, we are making entry to the fair absolutely free so that we can accommodate the maximum number of people from Delhi and around. So, this is for the first time it's happening, and it shows the commitment of NBT to make books reading accessible for all," Marathe said.

The theme pavilion, which will feature more than 500 books, curated exhibits, posters, documentaries and installations, is inspired by Indian Military Academy , Dehradun.

Some key features at the theme pavilion include replicas of the Arjun Tank, INS Vikrant, and LCA Tejas, tributes to 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees and sessions on major wars and military operation from Budgaon 1947 to Operation Sindoor.

The fair will also feature exhibitions on 150 years of Vande Mataram and the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Apart from the participation of Qatar as the guest of honour country and Spain as the focus country, the book fair will host publishers, authors, and cultural institutions from more than 35 nations, including Russia, Japan, Poland, France, Abu Dhabi, Iran, Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Chile.

The international pavilion will host book launches, multilingual poetry evenings, cultural showcases, children's literature sessions, and discussions on themes of AI, gaming, migration, and heritage.

Another important addition to this year's book fair will be the participation of 10 international book fair directors, including the Leipzig Book Fair, Bologna Children's Book Fair, Seoul International Book Fair, Tuyap Fairs and Exhibitions from Turkiye, Frankfurter Buchmesse, Book World Prague from Czech Republic, and the Gothenburg Book Fair from Sweden.

The fair will host authors, speakers, and public figures, including Piyush Mishra, Smriti Irani, Hema Malini, Kailash Satyarthi, Ricky Kej, Jaya Kishori, Durjoy Dutta, Shalini Passi, and Shubhanshu Shukla.

In the evenings, the fair will witness cultural performances by Manganiyar artistes of Rajasthan, poets of the Rekhta Foundation, and the official bands of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

In the children's pavilion, the book fair will host storytelling, theatre, quizzes, art and craft, vedic maths, book designing workshops, and child author interactions.

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