Chinese degrees to be treated at par with India’s
Indian students in China can breathe easy now. India and China will be treating each other’s degrees as equivalent. The deal would facilitate cross-border mobility of students for advanced studies and job purposes.
This comes amidst border tensions lingering between India and China, and a fresh problem which is causing trouble between the two Asian giants. The problem started because of Beijing’s action of refusing a visa for the Army’s Northern Command chief, Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal. The Indian general, who is responsible for the disputed northwestern state of Kashmir, was to join a military delegation for a high-level visit.
There were reports suggesting that Beijing had denied the visa because Jaswal controlled a “disputed” area (India holds 45 percent of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, while Pakistan controls a third. China holds the rest). India has got back at China by denying visas to three Chinese officers, a senior colonel and two captains from the Chinese army who were coming to India for an English language course. India has also put on hold all defence exchanges with China, including a company-level army exercise and the annual defence dialogue. Disputes between the two countries dates back to a 1962 border war, partly over the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
But all these disputes have not become a hindrance to the deal for co-operation in education. Sources have revealed that the mutual recognition agreement with China is almost ready for signing. This is good news for an estimated 7,000 Indians who are pursuing higher education programmes in China. It was within the past six years that China had become a major higher education destination for Indians. Chinese universities provide world-class facilities and the fees is much lower than what has to be paid in any of the western institutes or in Australia.
Sources have revealed that Kapil Sibal, Human Resource Development Minister, is set to talk on the matter with his Chinese counterpart next month. He will be attending the World Economic Forum in Tianjin between September 13 and 16.