Know Thy Neighbour

The move to include Mandarin in the CBSE curriculum is welcome. However, lack of teachers proficient in this Chinese language and standardised texts could hamper the effort. Steps were initiated to overcome these hurdles during HRD minister Kapil Sibal's China visit. What the minister said in Beijing makes a lot of sense. The two giant neighbours, which are also partners in trade, need to understand each other to make the best of each other's needs and strengths.
What better way than to introduce each other's language in their respective education systems. The proposal to institute an exchange programme of scholars between the two countries and cooperation among universities also has a similar logic to it. There is an urgent need in both countries to know each other better. People-to-people contact must supplement interactions among state officials and could help build mutual trust. One way to facilitate such interaction is to create avenues to learn each other's language and familiarise with the cultural coordinates of the respective societies.
Culture, of course, is a manifestation of a country's soft power. There's fear in some circles that Beijing could use its soft power to promote its political and economic interests. These fears are exaggerated. It is in India's long-term interest that there are avenues and platforms to know more about China. Learning Mandarin is just one of them.
There needs to be more initiatives public and private to understand Chinese culture and minds. The economic benefits of knowing the language of a people who are soon to become the world's largest consumer block are too obvious to be stated here. But even from a strategic perspective it is useful to be familiar with developments and debates within China. Beijing, with its emphasis on teaching English and even languages like Hindi to Chinese citizens, is doing precisely that.