Avoid politicising normal cooperation, says China after India's move to review Confucius institutes

Following India's decision to review Chinese language programmes across universities, the Chinese embassy issued a statement asking India to treat the matter in an objective and fair manner.

New Delhi:Following India's decision to review Chinese language programmes across universities, the Chinese embassy issued a statement on Tuesday asking India to avoid 'politicisation of normal cooperation' and treat the matter in an objective and fair manner.

China-India cooperation on Confucius Institute Project has been carried out for more than 10 years. All Confucius Institutes were established by the Chinese and Indian universities after signing legally binding cooperation agreement in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, friendly consultation, equality and mutual benefit, and on the premise that the Indian side applied voluntarily and met the conditions for running the Institute, as said in the statement.

The school-running mode of Confucius Institutes has always been “foreign side mainly managing, Chinese side assisting and both sides raising funds jointly”. Over the years, Confucius Institutes have played an important role in promoting Chinese language teaching in India and China-India people-to-people and cultural exchanges. This has been generally recognized by the Indian education community, it said.

"We hope Indian relevant parties can treat Confucius Institutes and China-India higher education cooperation in an objective and fair manner, avoid politicizing normal cooperation and maintain healthy and stable development of China-India people-to-people and cultural exchanges," the statement said.

Confucius Institutes are public educational partnerships between universities in China and colleges and universities in other countries. These promote Mandarin - Chinese language - and foster people-to-people contacts.