India and China have pledged to substantially increase the exchange of students and teachers; at present a very small number compared to what both countries exchange with the United States.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Wednesday called for an increase in teacher-level exchanges during talks with his counterpart Yang Jiechi, suggesting it will help promote mutual understanding.
There are around 7,000 Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities, far below the 1,03,000 students who are in the U.S.
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Educational exchanges between China and the U.S. too far surpass those with India. There are an estimated 98,000 Chinese students in the U.S., and less than 3,000 in India. During his November visit to Beijing, President Barack Obama pledged the U.S. would send as many as 1,00,000 students to China over the next four years.
India now wants to follow suit. “Education was given a very prominent position in the discussions because in the context of building greater mutual awareness and understanding, it was felt that educational exchanges play a very important part,” said Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.
“The examples provided by educational exchanges between India and the U.S., and China and the U.S. did find mention [in Wednesday's talks]. Seeing the examples provided in these other contexts, we wanted to see if these experiences could also be, in a sense, repeated when it came to India and China. We agreed to explore those possibilities.”
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As a start, Chinese officials said they would soon introduce a programme to invite 100 secondary school students from India, and 50 teachers. The two countries would also begin a programme to arrange mutual visits between Vice-Chancellors.
The emphasis on education in Wednesday's talks was welcomed by Indian scholars in China, who say greater attention to exchanges has been long overdue.
The Indian government supports scholarships for 25 students to come to China every year in various fields, ranging from political science and arts to calligraphy. This programme was introduced in the 1980s but has not been expanded since, according to officials.
“Government support for students is far from enough, and there simply is not enough funds for students to come to China,” said Binod Singh from Bihar, a Ph.D. student at Peking University who also teaches at the Beijing Foreign Studies University. Mr. Singh came to Beijing in 2004 on a scholarship supported by the Chinese government. “At a private level, a lot of exchanges have been happening, but there is a lack of platform for Indian scholars at higher levels.”