Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Monday said that the people of India and China need to learn each other’s languages to overcome communication barriers, reported PTI. She said this would help strengthen ties between the two nations.
Swaraj was speaking at an event the Indian Embassy had organised in Beijing. She is on a four-day visit to China, and will attend the meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s member nations on April 24.
“The way our relations are strengthening today, it has become all the more important for Chinese students to learn Hindi and Indian students to learn Mandarin, so that you do not face language barriers when you go to India or they come down to China,” she said, according to ANI.
Swaraj said that she told Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Sunday that when people of two countries love each other it only strengthens the governments, reported PTI.
She also appreciated the growing popularity of Hindi cinema in China. “Foreign minister Wang Yi mentioned that Dangal, Secret Superstar and Hindi Medium are very popular here,” ANI quoted Swaraj as saying. Swaraj said an understanding of the language instead of subtitles would improve the experience of watching such films.
She also assured Chinese students who are learning Hindi that they would soon be able to travel to India. “A girl just said that it is her dream to visit India and she does not know when this dream will come true,” the minister said. “I am telling our ambassador here to send a delegation of 25 Hindi students from here on an India visit.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during an informal summit on April 27 and 28 in Wuhan city.
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