Chinanews.com, August 4th. According to the website of the Chinese Embassy in India, Counselor Ji Rong, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, recently answered reporters' questions about the Indian Ministry of Education's decision to review Confucius Institutes and other China-India higher education cooperation projects.
Q: According to reports, the Ministry of Education of India has decided to review the Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms jointly established by Chinese Confucius Institutes and 7 universities in India, as well as 54 memorandums of understanding on inter-school cooperation signed between Indian higher education institutions and Chinese universities and institutions. May I ask you Any comment on this?
Answer: With the increasingly close economic, trade and cultural exchanges between China and India, the demand for Chinese teaching in India is growing. The cooperation between the two countries on the Confucius Institute project has been carried out for more than 10 years. All Confucius Institutes are established by the universities of China and India after signing a legally binding cooperation agreement based on the principles of mutual respect, friendly consultation, equality and mutual benefit on the premise that India has applied voluntarily and has the conditions for running schools. The construction of Confucius Institutes has always adhered to the foreign-oriented school model with Chinese assistance to jointly raise school funding. Over the years, Confucius Institutes have played an important role in promoting Chinese teaching in India and promoting cultural exchanges between China and India. This has been generally recognized by the Indian education community.
It is hoped that relevant parties in India will treat Confucius Institutes and China-India higher education cooperation in an objective and fair manner, avoid politicizing normal cooperation, and maintain the healthy and stable development of China-India humanities exchanges.