No Chinese member in Nalanda varsity board for 8 months now, no move to appoint one

PATNA

The Chinese seat in the governing board of Nalanda University, an international institution funded by the Central government in the foothills of Rajjgir, around 100 kms from Patna, has been lying vacant for eight months now and officials say there is no move either to appoint a new Chinese representative in the wake of Galwan clash and current standoff.

The term of Chinese representative on the Nalanda University’s governing board, Prof Wang Bangwei, ended in November 2019.

“There is no movement on this issue. I don’t think in the present circumstances (India-China standoff), there is something like this (having Chinese representative on Nalanda University board) on our minds,” said a Ministry of External Affairs official, who was not willing to be named.

Prof Wang Bangwei is professor and director of the Institute of Oriental Studies and Oriental Literature Research Center at Peking University. His research included textual studies of Buddhist literature (of Sanskrit and its Chinese translation), history of Buddhism (both of China and of India) and Sino-Indian cultural interactions, among others. He had been the member of the Nalanda University governing board since its inception and involved with the setting up of the institution.

“At present, there is no Chinese representative. It is not decided at the university level. We have representatives from other Asian countries,” said Nalanda University vice-chancellor Sunaina Singh.

Ancient Nalanda had profound influence of China. The Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang (now Xuan Zang) stayed here in the 7th century AD and left a detailed description of the excellence of educational system and purity of monastic life practised here. He also gave a vivid account of both the ambience and architecture of this unique university.

It was the reason why China was involved in developing the new Nalanda University. The NU governing board had also held its third meeting in Beijing on October 14-15, 2011.

The proposed Xuanzang centre for Asian Studies with the Chinese collaboration also remains a non-starter. Former Nalanda University Chancellor George Yeo had signed an MoU with Peking University president Lin Jianhua on May 26, 2016, during President Pranab Mukherjee’s China visit.

Later, the Consulate General of People’s Republic of China in Kolkata, Ma Zhanwu, had also visited the university to work out the modalities, but after that nothing happened, while China came up with its own version of Nalanda University, Nanhai Buddhist College on Nanshan Mountains in Hainan Province, in 2017.

“Nothing has happened on the Xuanzang centre. It has remained stillborn since its inception. We are starting two new centres, Centre for Bay of Bengal Studies and Centre for Conflict Resolution, this year,” said the V-C, adding the university did not have any student or faculty member from China, though there were quite a few from East Asian Asian countries and even Cambodia and Romania.

(With inputs from HTC, New Delhi)