PM Modi’s chutzpah moment, a speech begining in mandarin, followed by a stern warning and a warm welcome

All of India has been intently listening to PM Narendra Modi over the past one year in the country, but now it is China’s turn.

Modi, who is on a three-day visit to China, is leaving no possible opportunity to connect with the bureaucrats as well as nationals of China.
And the speech that he gave today at the Tsinghua University just shows how he is leaving no stone unturned to encourage co-operation, trade and economy between India and China.

While addressing the students of Tsinghua University on the second day of his three-day China visit, where he was accompanied by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and University President Qiu Yong, he said, “...a resurgent Asia was seeking a bigger voice in global affairs, emphasising that India and China were mulling a greater role in the world, be it in United Nations Security Council or the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.”

PM Modi’s decision to address the Chinese youth was a conscious one because he believes the ‘youth’ is the future of both the economies.

To immediately connect with the audience, he chose to begin his speech in Mandarin and then didn’t stop until he conveyed a stronger message stating that 21st century would be the Asian century. He said, “The prospects of the 21st century becoming the Asian century will depend in large measure on what India and China achieve individually and what we do together. The rising fortunes of 2.5 billion pairs of joined hands will be of the greatest consequence for our region and the humanity.”

The Indian premier went on to project India as a land of huge opportunities, saying the country had everything on offer, right from skills to manpower.

“The aspirations of 800 million people in India, who are below the age of 35 years, in energy and skills would push India’s economic transformation to a new level,” said Modi.

In a bid to engage better with China, Modi, in his signature style, connected proverbs of both the nations—and said that like China, India also believed in “wealth that increases by giving, wealth is knowledge and is supreme of all possessions.”

He also picked up pieces from the history to emphasise on the stronger ties India and China have shared in the earlier centuries.

His address would have sounded incomplete, had the man not pitched his ‘Make in India’ for once, and he did mention it without any inhibitions—despite knowing that China is itself the proverbial production hub of the world for almost a decade now.

“During President Xi's visit last September, we set for ourselves a new level of ambition for our cooperation. Partnership in modernizing Indian railways, two Chinese industrial parks in India, commitments of 20 billion dollars in investments into India over the next five years partnership in our Make in India Mission: This is the shape of our future,” he expressed.

Modi also spoke about the contentious border issue and took a tough stand on it while emphasising on the fact that these disagreement should not hamper relationships.

“It is because neither side knows where the Line of Actual Control is in these areas. That is why I have proposed resuming the process of clarifying it. We can do this without prejudice to our position on the boundary question. We should think of creative solutions to issues that have become irritants - from visa policies to trans-border rivers,” he said.

Modi, who is in Beijing on second day of his three-day China visit, met his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang earlier in the day and delegation of both the countries signed over 20 agreements, worth nearly $10 billion.

Indian PM landed in China on Thursday in Xi’an city, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On Saturday, Modi will visit Shanghai and meet industrialists, and invite them to participate in ‘Make in India’ campaign. Sounds like a real ambitious plan, doesn’t it?

(Image: Twitter)