Global Indian News
Underlining the importance of Islamabad for Beijing’s foreign policy calculus, Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to travel to Pakistan this year. Confirming the visit, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua …
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Narrowing India’s $37.85 billion trade deficit with China, a contentious issue between the two Asian giants, will take some out-of-the-box thinking, and greater consumer orientation. Here are some pointers on how it can be done.
A few weeks ago, as my wife Sumona was having a manicure at a nail salon in Shanghai, a thirty-something Chinese lady sitting in the next chair excitedly told her that she was simply in love with a handsome Indian star. Naturally, Sumona assumed it would be one of the Khans. “He has big eyes, a lovely smile, and is quite plump. So different from the skinny Chinese men! Look, I carry his picture on my phone,” she said. Pulling out a crystal-encrusted I-Phone 6, she showed the photo of a smiling Ram Kapoor.
Would you have ever imagined that Bade Achche Lagte Hain, a popular TV drama in India, could be so popular in China? Or that one of the most popular dance performances at last year’s Chinese New Year office parties was Jai Ho? Or that thousands of Chinese youth are enraptured by 3 Idiots (San Geshagua in Mandarin) because it reflects exactly the same kind of pressure that they experience?
The continued growth of both the Chinese market and consumer power offers Indian businesses myriad opportunities. Narrowing the trade gap is a political and economic commitment on both sides of the Himalaya. It’s up to Indian business to make the most of China’s booming consumer markets.
BEIJING: Barely days before the Spring Festivities herald the Year of the Sheep in China’s lunar calendar, signifying innovation, ingenuity and creativity, President Xi Jinping has predicted a new spring …
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Petite Chinese girls dressed in colourful saris, samosas and chicken tikkas, strains of classical Indian music floating in the winter air…Incredible India is set to cast its spell on Chinese tourists, whetting their appetite to experience a neighbouring country that continues to be shrouded in clichés, old and new.
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In a delicate diplomatic waltz, after rolling out the red carpet for US President Barack Obama, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit China by May, underlining the new Indian leader’s foreign policy of multi-alignment, which entails forging closer ties with the world’s leading power centres.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is currently on a three-day trip to China, has told Indian journalists in Beijing that Mr Modi will visit China before the end of his first year in office. Government sources indicated that the visit is expected around April-early May.
As global economic and strategic concerns shift to Asia, Chinese analysis of global trends has resulted in a strategic shift in China’s approaches to foreign and security policy. This is, for instance, reflected both in the call for a ‘new type of major power relationship’ with the United States as well as in the new outreach initiatives towards Asian countries. Beijing has been among the first to reach out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and our relations with China should not respond merely to its re-emergence but also engage with it in shaping the future regional and global orders.
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In November 2012, soon after the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), President Xi Jinping put forward for the first time the idea …
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At the end of 2008, the year China stunned the world with the spectacular staging of the Beijing Olympics, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of CPC summoned representatives and officials of 28 parties and ministries for a meeting to discuss how to improve China’s national image. The meeting emanated from the growing realization that although for the past 30 years, China had experienced sound economic development, satisfactory political and social stability and had just concluded a remarkable Olympic Games, China’s image in the international arena did not quite match its national power. The western media has propagated a negative relentlessly –- a singularly one-sided and biased image of China, but it is now time for the Chinese media to take the initiative to promote China’s national image in a comprehensive and objective manner.
Cross-cultural communication Currently, Confucius Institutes or Confucius classrooms have been established throughout the world. They provide free fortnightly classes. While China provides all the funding, teachers, and teaching materials, for the foreign institutions as a collaborator all they need to do is to provide training space and students for the classes.
The biggest issue is, if a government has tarnished its own image domestically due to dictatorship, corruption, low social welfare, violation of human rights and the rising discontent amongst its own people, how can it persuade the international society to accept a positive image of it? Therefore, the China Image will be popular internationally only if its government’s domestic image improves amongst its own people by providing welfare, freedom and human rights for all.
China and India are the world’s biggest developing countries and the US is the world’s biggest developed country. The combined GDP and population of these three countries form almost 40% of the global share. And they share the common mission of promoting global peace and development. The peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between China, India and the US will not only benefit the 2.8 billion people of our three countries but will also have far-reaching impact on the world’s development.
As President Xi Jinping has said on relations between Beijing and Washington, “the vast Pacific Ocean has ample space to accommodate our two great nations.” And on the relations between Beijing and New Delhi, he has said: “If we speak with one voice, the whole world will listen.” As long as we collectively show enough foresight, courage and open-mindedness, China, India and the US can express similar understanding in three different languages of Chinese, Hindi and English, and can realise the trans-Pacific Ocean and trans-Indian Ocean cooperation in the 21st century, thus bringing the people of our three countries and even the entire world even greater prosperity. We can become the “ballast stone,” ensuring the peace and stability of the world, and the boosters of global economic growth.
Change seems to be afoot in China’s dealings with the world. At a major conference on foreign affairs in Beijing on November 28-29, President Xi Jinping called on his colleagues to create a “more enabling environment” for China’s development. Xi’s remarks are nuanced and balanced and seek to distance China from its brash and assertive posture which has generated considerable unease in the regions neighbouring China.
At another level, China is signalling that it is a big power and wants to be seen in a more benign light as one, rather than being feared and distrusted , as it is at present.
At a third level, it also reflects a Chinese understanding that despite its impressive capabilities, it is still a relatively passive power as is evident from the Chinese absence in dealing with any of the serious global crises like Ukraine, Syria or Afghanistan.