Leafing through a beautifully-bound photo album, visiting President Hu Jintao and Manorama Kotnis together traced the footsteps of Manorama's elder brother, Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis.

The Chinese will forever remember Dr Kotnis, who worked alongside the Chinese during the difficult years fighting the Japanese invasion, Hu told Manorama, 84, and eight other members of the late Kotnis' extended family.

And his spirit of self-sacrifice and friendship will be carried on, Hu said, pointing out a photo of Chinese children saluting to the statue of Dr Kotnis,

With the national emblem printed on the dark blue cover, on the front page Hu wrote "In memory of China's close friend, Dr Kotnis."

The presentation of the album by Hu Jintao to Manorama, and her extended family members was the highlight of the emotional meeting between them yesterday morning.

"I feel like meeting family members," Hu told Manorama.

During the meeting, Manorama recalled the memorable life of Dr Kotnis, who left India for China on September 1, 1938, when she was 16 years old. He died in 1942 in China.

Dr Kotnis joined a team of volunteer Indian doctors when the call came that the Chinese were badly in need of doctors to save the lives of soldiers and common people in their fight against Japanese invasion.

"Do not wait for patients to come to you but go to them wherever they are," Manorama told the Hindu newspaper in a previous interview, quoting her elder brother.

Dr Kotnis worked day and night to save wounded soldiers and treat local people. "He never accepted anything that was not given to his colleagues or local people," Manorama said. "He was very well respected and admired by local people."

"Baba (Kotnis) marvelled at the remarkable spirit, describing how soldiers, on recovering, would leave the hospital to head straight back to the front," his sister recalled.

"We have lost a dear member of our family," Manorama said, but the family appreciated the fact that the Chinese memory of Dr Kotnis has continued.

"We hope that the name of Dr Kotnis serves as a bridge of friendship between the Indians and the Chinese," she said.

Manorama now lives with her 78-year-old sister, Dr Vatsala Kotnis and their nephew, Colonel Anil Khot, in a typical middle class Maharashtrian locality in central Mumbai, local media reported. "Their house is like a museum, full of memorabilia relating to their late brother. The memory of his life and work remains alive for them," a report in the Hindu newspaper described.

Over the nearly 70 year period, the Chinese have continued to express their appreciation for the late Dr Kotnis. There are memorials, a leading army medical institute is named after him and postal stamps have been issued in his honour.

Dr Kotnis was "an outstanding role model" for the mutual friendship and support between the Chinese and Indians, Hu said.

"We are happy to see the spirit of Dr Kotnis has been carried forward and advanced with substantial progress in China-India relations," Hu noted.

Source: China Daily