PM Modi set to launch first Gandhi Centre in Shanghai

A first-ever centre dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in China will be opened next week on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Shanghai, the last city on this three-day tour to China.

The centre for Gandhian studies will be launched by PM Modi on Saturday afternoon at the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai, shortly before the prime minister concludes his visit with a community reception.

Modi will begin his three-day visit in Xi'an on Thursday with talks with President Xi Jinping, before travelling to Beijing. Chinese officials have said this will mark the first instance of China's President travelling out of Beijing to welcome a visiting leader to his home province of Shaanxi. Xi will be reciprocating Modi's gesture of hosting him in Gujarat last September.

While top of Modi's agenda is taking forward economic cooperation between two of the biggest economies in the world, other agendas will include seeking greater Chinese investment in India to push for market access to address the trade imbalance, as well as the boundary issue. He is also likely to push for a renewed public diplomacy and soft power push to raise India's profile in China is also on the cards.

The prime minister on Monday opened an account on the Chinese Twitter equivalent Sina Weibo, a platform he will plan to use extensively to post frequent updates about his visit to the Chinese public.

While PM Modi is an active user of Twitter, the site, however, is blocked in China as part of its stringent cyber laws. As of Saturday, Modi's following on Weibo had crossed the 45,000 mark while his first post received an unbelievable 13 million hits.

Interestingly, among Modi's followers is a widely popular Xi Jinping fans' group, which is seen by some Chinese social media analysts as a semi-official account linked to the Chinese President.

The prime minister is also attempting to tap the rising Chinese interest in yoga during his visit to our neighbours.

In Beijing on Friday, Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will preside over a unique joint demonstration of yoga and Chinese Tai chi 'moving meditation' exercises at the iconic Temple of Heaven.

The prime minister will also preside over a ceremony to mark the setting up of a yoga college in China, the first of its kind.

The institute will come up in the southwestern Yunnan's University of Nationalities.

Modi will arrive in the Chinese city of Xian on May 14. Later, he will travel to capital Beijing on May 15. He would wind up his visit in Shanghai where he would also address the Indian large Indian diaspora.