Chinese students enroll in JGU's 'Understanding India' course

In an initiative aimed at boosting people-to-people exchanges and deepening social ties between India and China, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has organised an "understanding India programme" for 23 students and faculty members from the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The two week "Jindal - Tsinghua India Immersion Programme" starting Monday is a result of collaboration between Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), O. P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana and School of Social Sciences (SSS), Tsinghua University, which was ranked second in the 2016 BRICS and Emerging Economies Rankings by London-based Times Higher Education.

During his China visit in May 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the Tsinghua University and acknowledged the university as a world class institution.

Delivering the inaugural address at the commencement of the understanding India course, Li Bijian, Minister Counsellor, Embassy of China, observed that the year 2015 had been robust for India-China ties.

"Prime Minister Modi has met Chinese President Xi Jinping five times on different occasions, there have been more than 150 delegations at the ministerial level, and the coming year is expected to be equally robust," Bijian said.

"In the field of economic cooperation, the investments have doubled since 2014. Companies like Ali Baba and Lenovo have increased investments in India and created over 20,000 jobs for locals. But the main lacuna has been absence of deeper people-to-people exchanges, travels to each other's countries and social understanding. The Jindal-Tsinghua course is a major initiative towards this end," he pointed out.

Speaking on the inaugural session professor C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, JGU, encouraged the students to think beyond the possible and noted "youth on both sides of the border can and should make efforts to think beyond boundaries both geographically as well as mentally."

"Universities have a large role to play in building people-to-people contact and fostering improved bilateral ties between the two countries," Kumar pointed out.

The two-week programme will focus on educating the visiting Chinese students about Indian culture, economy, commerce, business and the key challenges that lie ahead so that it could provide for a basis for understanding contemporary India-China relations.