India on Thursday asked China to allow Indian citizens to travel to that country especially those who work or study there, and said that essential two-way travel should be facilitated, especially keeping in view the fact that Chinese nationals are able to travel to India.
In a chat with rediff.com readers, Dr Srikanth Kondapalli, Associate Professor in Chinese Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, analysed the prime minister's trip and offered his opinion on whether the trip was worth all the hoopla.
'...he had to take his exams in Hindi at IIT-Kharagpur.' 'You wouldn't have got someone like Sundar Pichai because Hindi is not a friendly language for a person from Tamil Nadu.'
'It is commendable that India is able to persuade all sides.' 'It shows that India counts and finally, we are reaching a position where we can find a place in the sun at the global level.'
Chinese President Xi Jinping has underlined the need for building a combat-ready army and accelerate the building of the theatre joint combat command system, amidst the People's Liberation Army flexing its muscles in the disputed South China Sea.
Officials hint the visit could finally see a formal defence industrial road map being adopted by both nations.
'The Weather Channel argues that India faces the gravest challenge: Climate change-induced health vulnerability.' 'This is an issue often neglected, alerts Claude Arpi: "Prolonged summers, unpredictable rains, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels are the harsh realities of climate change in the country. These factors increase the frequency and severity of illnesses, pushing people into poverty, and forcing migration".'
According to a 2021 Redseer report, India's overseas education market is estimated to more than double to $80 billion by 2024.
HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu is set to lead India's charge at the upcoming Sudirman Cup.
The scaling up of the India-US strategic partnership to the level of non-NATO ally with defence deals, sharing and transfer of defence technology, interoperability, joint collaboration and joint production of defence equipment has exacerbated Moscow's anxiety, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The average age of those who died was 80.3, and 90 per cent of the fatalities were aged 65 or over, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Days after it faced nationwide anti-government protests against its stringent zero-Covid policy, China in a major shift of its coronavirus response policies has announced that it will scrap quarantine for international travellers from January 8 as it reopens its borders and comes out of international isolation after nearly three years.
'Mann Ki Baat' is being broadcast by more than 500 broadcast centres of All India Radio.
A Chinese magnate has agreed to buy historic English football club Aston Villa, the latest in a series of investments from China into football worldwide as President Xi Jinping looks to make the country a global powerhouse in the sport.
Top companies in China are valued at 7.7 times the trailing 12-month earnings against a P/E ratio of 18.6 times for Nifty 50 companies.
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With world's largest population of nearly 1.4 billion people, food security remains a major issue in China.
Xi's visit to Nyingchi, bordering Arunachal Pradesh, signals China's opening of another front to India in the eastern sector, observes Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
Samra was juggling between her MBBS studies at the GGS Medical College (in Faridkot) and shooting but ultimately decided to change her course.
We should reassess what India's role in the world is and whether we are doing the right thing for ourselves, notes Aakar Patel.
Some experts argue that India's new growth figures are due to the revised calculation of GDP, which was launched in January
The men with guns tend to know little finance, and establishing such a conspiracy then involves leakage of information, which is also dangerous, Ajay Shah points out.
Mike Pompeo has said that among the dozens of world leaders he met as the United States Secretary of State he found the 'most unpleasant' was Chinese President Xi Jinping, who threatened to stop sending PPE kits to America if it kept asking for accountability from Beijing on COVID-19.
China Chongqing Yuan Innovation Technology Group, a Chinese firm, is exploring the possibility of setting up a $10 million plant in India to manufacture motorcycles and spare parts.
President Xi said that the Chinese side is ready to work with the Indian side to carry forward the fresh impetus of bilateral relations.
Her days in the isolation ward no longer haunts India's first COVID-19 patient in Kerala and the 20-year old medico who has fully recovered is now busy attending online classes from her university in Wuhan in China as she completed three months since being diagnosed with the disease.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
"We continue to call on China to be transparent in sharing data and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results. Understanding how the pandemic began remains both a moral and scientific imperative," Ghebreyesus said.
China on Thursday told Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that it will always put its "all-weather ally" as a priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy as it praised his commitment to promote the USD 60 billion CPEC initiative.
Mastermind Shrinivas Rao Dadi, 49, who has sound technical knowledge despite limited education, was taken into custody by a team of Bangur Nagar police station from a plush hotel in Hyderabad, the official said.
Three Chinese journalists based in India representing the state-run Xinhua news agency were denied permission for extended stay in the country.
'India should respect Maldivian nationalism and their desire to be not over-dependent on India.' 'India should not behave like a big brother towards Maldives as many times, we tend to behave like that.'
A "flat-footed" athlete, P R Sreejesh had a specific aim in mind when he decided to become a hockey player: securing 60 marks in annual examinations without having to study.
China said on Thursday that "progress" has been made in facilitating the return of thousands of Indian students stranded back home due to Beijing's COVID visa bans and efforts were on for "early return" of the first batch.
'The future of BRICS is under stress as Chinese attempts to expand the platform are being resisted by India and Brazil.' 'Beijing is focused on a quick expansion with the aim of giving the platform a distinctly anti-Western orientation, which New Delhi and Brasilia seem to have no interest in,' notes Harsh V Pant.
His semifinal match against Giri went up to 2am and a few hours later, he had to be at his school to take his 11th-class board examination.
Blind's drab narrative has no place for emotions or edge. Its prolonged cat-and-mouse game goes on and on till it arrives at its (literally) eye-popping conclusion, notes Sukanya Verma.
The move comes in the backdrop of a Radio Free Asia report that nearly 250 million people in China may have been affected by COVID-19 in just 20 days after the 'zero-COVID policy' was diluted in the first week of the month.
'Which will not happen.' 'Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has expressly refuted Beijing's statement that normalcy was returning to Sino-Indian relations.'
Jack Ma, China's billionaire and founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, has travelled to Europe for an agriculture study tour, his first trip abroad since he ran into trouble with the Chinese government last year over violating anti-monopoly regulations.
Backed by the 'China Plus One' sentiment globally, India's textile exports is expected to grow by 81 per cent to $65 billion by 2026 from the pre-Covid level of around $36 billion in 2019, said a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and global consulting firm Kearney. This jump is likely to generate 7.5-10 million new jobs. A large chunk of this targeted increase, or around $16 billion may come from the China Plus One sentiment due to India's relatively large strategic depth compared with Vietnam or Bangladesh, the report said.
