NEW DELHI, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) "is very much necessary" as it helps in understanding each other's cultural and civilizational diversities and brings all closer to each other, an India scholar has said.

Srikanth Kondapalli, chairman of the Center for East Asian Studies at Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University, made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Kondapalli is scheduled to attend the conference to be held in Beijing from Wednesday.

Under the theme of "exchanges and mutual learning among Asian civilizations and a community with a shared future," the CDAC will focus on cultural diversity, exchanges and mutual learning.

More than 2,000 government officials and representatives of various circles from 47 Asian countries and other countries outside the region will attend the CDAC.

It is an attempt to understand each other's civilizations and derive mutual benefits and gains from each other through such dialogues, Kondapalli said.

"In my view, such kind of dialogue among Asian civilizations in the contemporary world is very much necessary and important," he said, noting that it is building up together in terms of economy, social and overall development.

Kondapalli said it is good to see that China is taking a lead in holding such a conference, adding "Such exchanges are the need of the hour to draw mutual benefits keeping our age old civilizational ties stronger."

"I am hopeful that CDAC will also witness constructive discussions and evoke positive response from among the participants," he said.

While noting that Chinese and Indian civilizations are among the oldest and richest civilizations in the world, Kondapalli also pointed out that the two countries have a strong base of age-old civilizational connect and now is the time to further expand it.