On January 24, 2025, the Global South Convergence Forum (GSCF) hosted an educative seminar on “What is China?” at Atlas SkillTech University in Mumbai, India. The seminar, a masterclass in itself, was delivered by His Excellency Mr. Kong Xianhua, the Consular General of the People’s Republic of China in Mumbai. The objective of the seminar was to provide aspiring Indian students an insight on China from within China. Skillfully navigating difficult challenges in one of the most important and yet-difficult-to-crack bilateral India-China relations, team GSCF was successful in enabling exchanges between the two nations.

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The event was honoured by the presence of several Chinese dignitaries from the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Mumbai including (1) His Excellency Mr. Kong Xinhua – Consul General of China in Mumbai; (2) Mr. Xiong Fangxing - Vice Consul; (3) Miss Pan Ziwei - Vice Consul; and (4) Mr. Zhang Hongyu - Commercial Consul.

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​Dr. Natasha Agarwal, Co-founder of the GSCF, eloquently explained the forum's genesis and the need to nurture a nuanced understanding amongst Global South nations. She then introduced and graciously invited His Excellency Mr. Kong Xinhua to take centre stage.

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His Excellency delivered an insightful and enlightening presentation providing the audience with a holistic perspective on the journey of Chinese economic growth and development, candidly addressing the challenges and triumphs along the way. Concluding the session, His Excellency emphasized the immense potential of India-China cooperation in shaping the global destiny.

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A lively questions and answer (Q&A) session followed offering students an opportunity to engage directly with the Consular General. The interaction provided information on scholarship opportunities available to Indian students wanting to pursue higher studies in India. Moreover, it also cleared misconception on language being a barrier for Indian students traveling to China. For more details on educational opportunities for Indian students in China, Team GSCF recommends reading the interview of Mr. Rajeev Balakrishnan, a former PhD student from China Agricultural University, printed in ArthaShastra. 

 

Data gleaned from the vibrancy of the emotive students further corroborate the findings reported in a forthcoming column co-authored by the co-founders of GSCF, Dr. Natasha Agarwal and Paresh Batra, that education is a powerful economic currency which can be capitalized upon to reconverge India-China bilateral ties. Afterall, as Da Wei, a Chinese scholar at Tsinghua University says, “Diplomacy starts with education”.