Youth exchanges to help boost China-India relations

Visits and fruitful exchanges between the young people of India and China will contribute to further strengthening of bilateral relations — which is described as entering a "phase of recovery".

Addressing the third China-India Youth Dialogue in New Delhi on Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong said the dialogue's purpose is to "bring the young people of our two countries together, enhance mutual understanding, inspire new thoughts and ideas, and promote the development of China-India relations."

Around 100 youths from both nations, who had recently traveled or studied at universities in each other's countries, attended the event. According to the Indian embassy in Beijing, about 200 members of the Indian Youth Delegation have visited China under the India-China Youth Exchange program launched in 2018.

The third China-India Youth Dialogue marks a series of events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-India diplomatic ties. "Hopefully, it will bridge the gap, increase mutual understanding and cultivate friendships among the youth," Xu said.

Himadrish Suwan, chairman of the Confederation of Young Leaders of India, was glad to see the resumption of the India-China Youth Exchange program which had been stalled for the past six and half years due to the border standoff between the two countries.

Beijing will continue to provide more platforms for exchanges between the youth of the two countries, and advance cooperation in fields such as education, science and technology, culture, media and sports, Xu said, adding: "We also hope that the Indian side could further facilitate the visits of Chinese youth to India."

Xu noted that more than 20 universities in China have courses in Hindi, Tamil and other Indian languages, while more than 30 Indian universities teach Chinese language.

"We should further enhance cooperation in language education to cultivate more successors for the cause of China-India friendship," Xu underscored.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri traveled to Beijing and held talks with Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Sun Weidong last month, under the framework of the foreign secretary-vice-minister mechanism.

"I see a positive trend in the relations between China and India with meetings of leaders from both sides," said Avijit Banerjee, head of the Department of Chinese Language and Culture at Visva-Bharati University in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. "So the next step in further enhancing the bilateral relationship will be the implementation of the education exchange programs," he said.

B.R. Deepak, a professor of Chinese studies at the Centre of Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said it is important for both countries to maintain this trajectory of upward movement in relations.

"The recent series of developments indicates that ice has been broken. Now, there is no going back. There will be only going forward," said Sudheendra Kulkarni, a close aide to former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the founder of the Forum for a New South Asia.

Contact the writers at vivienxu@chinadailyapac.com.

Aparajit Chakraborty is a freelance journalist for China Daily.