INDIA: Education ties could ease tension with China

As India and China struggle to normalise an ongoing chill in relations caused by tensions over defence exchanges, Education Minister Kapil Sibal's visit to China next week could thaw the ice through bilateral cooperation in the field of education.

Sibal will head the Indian delegations to the World Economic Forum meeting on 13-15 September in Tianjin, China, where he is also expected to discuss bilateral student exchange programmes, particularly in the fields of technical education and culture, in meetings with China's education minister and other ministers, a ministry official said.

The mutual recognition of academic degrees will be a major point of discussion between the two countries, with over 7,000 Indians pursuing higher education in China. Medicine is the most popular field for Indians, followed by engineering and the humanities - especially languages.

Unlike most programmes in the US, UK and Australia, Chinese courses are not recognised in India.

Indian students returning home are unable to apply for higher studies and their degrees are not treated on a par with Indian qualifications when they seek jobs.

Officials have confirmed that mutual recognition of academic degrees is on Sibal's agenda.

But the pact may not be signed during Sibal's visit, they cautioned.

Officially, the government will not comment on the reasons why it is treading with caution over the pact - which would benefit thousands of Indian students in China.

Sources said sections within the government are concerned that recognising Chinese degrees at this stage could allow China to possibly swamp the Indian higher education market when it is growing faster than ever. This could hurt Indian higher education institutions - public and private - irreparably, the source said.

But foreign policy experts said Sibal could nonetheless achieve a lot during his visit.

"The scope for educational cooperation with China is enormous. Sibal should resolve the longstanding demand for recognition of degrees. This will automatically lead to more student exchange between the two countries," said Professor Alka Acharya of the Centre for East Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Acharya also said the focus should be on creating more scholarships. "Officially there are only 25 scholarships for Indian students going to China. We should have at least 2,000 to begin with. Except for three universities which have limited intake, we also do not have accessible and affordable institutes to learn the Chinese language," said Acharya.

Acharya said both governments should work on cultural exchanges to enable more Indians to learn Chinese.

Sibal's visit assumes significance as collaboration in the field of education between the two Asian giants is still limited despite the Education Exchange Programme (EEP) endorsed by leaders from both countries in June 2003. A new EEP was signed during the visit of President Hu Jintao to India in November 2006.

The problem, said Acharya, was in implementation. "If you look at the number of agreements signed by both countries, you will see that most have not been implemented. Sibal can sign any number of documents but he must ensure their implementation."

Despite current diplomatic tensions, sparked by China's refusal to grant a visa to a high-level Indian military commander because he came from the sensitive Jammu and Kashmir region, analysts are hopeful that this kind of soft diplomacy will help in breaking the ice and improving relations.

Indian diplomat and former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh said India had been following a pragmatic policy since 1998. "India has developed relations with China in areas other than political, especially economic cooperation. In terms of trading of commodities China is our leading trading partner. The same can happen with education," said Mansingh.

"Two areas in which the Chinese admire Indians are our ability and command over the English language and the advances we have made in information technology. India should tap this advantage," said Mansingh.

He said he did not expect Sibal to touch on the political issues and differences between the two countries. "That will be sorted out in a different forum. The Chinese are pragmatic. It is in their interest to encourage educational ties with India," he said.

Sibal's trip follows a visit by External Affairs Minister SM Krishna to Beijing in April this year, when India and China pledged to substantially increase the exchange of students and teachers.

"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," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said after returning to India.

As a start, Chinese officials said they would 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.

Sibal will also be looking at educational collaborations such as student and faculty exchange, twinning arrangements such as dual degrees between Chinese and Indian institutions, and research collaborations.

According to education ministry officials, China has shown interest in the expansion of the Indian education sector. Chinese universities are increasingly looking for tie-ups with their Indian counterparts.

Having hugely invested in higher education, improving infrastructure and attracting global faculty to its universities, China is also eyeing a share of Indian students choosing to go abroad for further studies every year.

"If Indian students opt to go for China it will be much cheaper than going to the US or UK. Still better would be for India to recognise Chinese degrees so that more Indian students study there and come back to add to the talent pool," said a senior ministry official.