Mohammad Mujeeb, a representative for India and the vice chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, discusses the treatment of Asian cultures in Western textbooks. In 1953, UNESCO began work to assess history and geography textbooks around the world and sponsor bilateral conferences for the revisions and improvement of these textbooks. Prior to this radio programme, a committee had reviewed reports from seventeen national commissions. The commissions stated that in order to promote mutual understanding between citizens of different countries, their textbooks required changes in perspective and the removal of derogatory terms and nationalistic approaches.