Selected Speeches at First Sino-Indian University Students Forum

Editor’s Note: The First Sino-Indian University Students Forum jointly sponsored by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， the China-India Friendship Association， and the Center for India Studies under Peking University， was held at Peking University from May 20 to 23， 2009. Seventy students from top Indian and Chinese universities took part in the forum. With the theme of “China-India cooperation is in our hands”， the participants exchanged views on issues of common concern including politics， economy and culture and held discussions.

Speech by Zhang Minyu of Peking University

I am Zhang Minyu， an undergraduate majoring in Hindi enrolled in the Department of South Asian Studies of the School of Foreign Languages of Peking University in 2005. I feel honored to stand here today to share with all of you my excitement to speak on behalf of the 70 student representatives to the forum and on behalf of about 30 Indian and Chinese university students who helped organize this forum.

The friendship between China and India has a long history， and the Sino-Indian relationship has experienced rapid development in the past four years since I started learning Hindi in Peking University. Now， I need no longer to explain to whomever I meet that my major is a language used by people in India， not by the North American Indians. More and more students begin to follow with interest and learn about India， and a trip to India is no longer regarded as a “legendary experience”.

Accordingly， the Indians are paying more attention to China， which was reflected from my personal experience in India.

In 2006 when I studied in India on a government-funded student exchange program， I often met curious Indians who asked me: “Are you Japanese?” “No.” “Korean?” When I told them I came from China， they would look surprised.

However， when I revisited India as a member of the China National Youth Delegation in November 2008， I was astonished that many Indian people immediately figured out we were from China， even vendors outside the Taj Mahal could speak some simple Chinese in doing their business such as “yi bai kuai qian” (“one hundred yuan”).

With a background as such， this forum is undoubtedly a splendid gathering of young students of the two countries. I would like to thank leaders of the CPAFFC， the China-India Friendship Association， the Center for India Studies under Peking University， the Indian Embassy in China， the Huawei India Foundation and the teachers for their offering us the opportunity to participate in the preparation for the forum and to be part of this important historical moment.

Finally， I extend to you， my Indian friends the warmest welcome， for your coming to China and Peking University. I hope the forum in the next few days will become one of the most unforgettable periods of our lives， and we may contribute a glorious page marked with our vigor in the annals of Sino-Indian relationship.

Speech by Indian Student Binod Singh at First Sino-Indian University Students Forum

(Excerpts)

How beautiful and awesome it is to see such a beautiful gathering of students from India and China. At the very outset， on behalf of Indian delegates， I would like to congratulate the organizers from Peking University， especially the Center of India study for hosting this historical conference.

Friends， I personally believe that this conference is an excellent opportunity for all of us from India to share our vision with our Chinese friends for a peaceful and harmonious global society. Right from this afternoon and in the following two days we are prepared to have an open， very candid and frank discussion about what we think of India-China bilateral relations in the 21st century. We are also delighted to have Prof. Jiang Jingkui and Madam Anita Sharma to guide us throughout this forum.

Friends， today， for me it’s a dream coming true to see so many smiling faces in the beautiful campus of China’s most elite institution for erudite scholarship. I mean welcome to Peking University because this is the only university in China where Indian students are the least represented. For the last five years I have been celebrating the International Cultural Festival along with one or two Indian students who come here on the exchange program. In the long history of Peking University， this is the first time to see a gathering of the two oldest and living civilizations on the earth. I wish you all will fall in love not only with your counterparts， but also with the campus and with this beautiful city of Beijing. I take it for granted that you all love China and that’s why you have worked hard to come here and take part in this forum.

To my friends from China， whom I know even before this conference， I would like to hug you all for such a hard work in putting this forum together and giving the current shape of the forum. I would warmly invite them to visit India anytime during their student life or working life in order to discover personally that India is not just all about Buddhism and IT but it is very diverse and dynamic. It is the museum of humanity， and it is also a world in itself. It is very hard to conceive for many in the west that how 2% of a particular nationality in India can produce a president， and a prime minister for second term. Indeed it’s a miracle that happens only in the Indian democracy.

Dear friends， I would also emphasize today that this forum is indeed convened at a very right and urgent time when the world economy is facing a severe recession due to the financial crisis which has its origins in the US sub-prime crisis. We the young students are at the receiving end of this crisis， when the companies are either not hiring or just firing. Certain governments in the West are thinking that we the young people from China and India are eating their lunch. We need to prove them wrong. Since， we belong to the two countries where almost forty percent of the humanity lives a constrained life under the conditions of undersupplied resource. Therefore I believe， this is a forum where we the young people need to decide our future together in this new emerging economic world order.Indeed， the future of India-China bilateral relations lies on our shoulders.

I am confident to tell you that my other friends from India are very excited and well prepared to learn from you about your culture， your political system and decision making and about your economic achievements. We are here to learn from you with a very open mind， and in return we do hope to clear your certain stereotypes perceptions about India. As our first Prime Minister Pundit Nehru rightly observed that:

“During these thousand years… each country (China and India) learned something from each other， not only in region of thoughts and philosophy， but also in the arts and science of life. Probably China was more influenced by India， than India by China， which is pity， for India could well have received， with profit to herself…”

The whole world is suppose to benefit when China and India cooperate on various issues such as energy resources， scientific research， epidemic controls， global warming and including security issues related to regional and international terrorism. The mutual distrust and hate against each other could be just thing of the past， when the two countries pursued diametrically opposite political ideologies in the cold war era. Therefore， I end this speech with the optimism that the 21st century could go down in history as CHINDIA’s century.

Reflections on First Sino-Indian University Students Forum

Liang Bing

In warm May， several dozen Chinese and Indian youth sharing the same dream gathered at Peking University to attend the first Sino-Indian University Students Forum sponsored by the university’s Center for India Studies.

China and India， the two largest developing countries in the world， have many similarities: they are the world’s two most populous countries; both have achieved high GDP growth and both are carrying out market-oriented economic reforms. Inevitably， therefore， the relations between the two countries， especially in terms of closer cooperation， attract much international attention. It is not only the leaders of the two countries that pay close attention to each other’s development， but ordinary young people， like those attending the Forum， have also begun to ponder their common destiny. We youth， as the mainstay of the country’s future， should also concern ourselves so as to have a deeper understanding of the problems and the opportunities to be faced.

The forum， therefore， gave us a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Our views might have been somewhat superficial， but the open discussion helped focus our attention to our common destiny. As for me， this forum enabled me to have a deeper understanding of the current situation in China and India， and stimulated my interest in learning more.

On May 19， 2009， we groups of Chinese and Indian youth arrived at Peking University one after another. Hardly had we settled down in the hotel that we began to make preparations for the forum. We were divided into several groups. The economic group that I was in prepared four topics for discussion: namely macro-economy， bilateral trade， cooperation in the IT industry and how to work together to address the financial crisis.

Every group made full preparations. Representatives of each group presented their own distinctive views. This inevitably provoked some heated discussion， argument and counter-argument all of which had something to recommend. We might agree or disagree， but the main thing was that we learned much from the experience.

The 10 % and 8% GDP growth rate that China and India have respectively registered on average in the past five years have attracted worldwide attention. China has focused its efforts on developing its manufacturing industry while India has focused more on the service sector. However， the different paths of development taken by our two countries have brought almost the same results. It is this difference in choices that has produced so many complementarities between our two economies. To cooperate for a win-win result is the best option. There exists a huge space for cooperation in the IT industry and bilateral trade. During discussions， all the participants presented their views from different angles， but arrived at the same conclusion: namely， that China and India should cooperate more closely with each other economically and to “seek common ground while shelving differences” where there is a divergence in our views.

Through the two-day forum， we—Chinese and Indian， participants and organizers—got acquainted with each other. We no longer felt reserved and became good friends. Even after returning to Shanghai， scenes of heated discussions， of happily taking pictures together， of forming the famous “group of singles” at the forum remained vivid in my mind. We young people born in the 1990s have lofty aspirations， pay great attention to the issue of people’s livelihood and are ready to make contributions to the development of our two countries.

We said goodbye to each other at the end of the forum with reluctance. We all expressed the wish to meet again some day， but， deep down， we know that such chances are rare. What we can do is to put the passion displayed at the forum into practice and follow with interest the common development of our two countries. This might be the best legacy and good memory of the forum.