Indian economist: BRICS future depends on China, India
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 5, 2017
An Indian economist told China.org.cn on Monday that the future of BRICS will depend on the relationship between China and India.
![Mohammed Saqib, secretary-general of the India China Economic and Cultural Council, speaks to China.org.cn about China-India relations in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 4, 2017. [Photo/China.org.cn]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20170905/b8aeed990a581b187d7901.jpg "Mohammed Saqib, secretary-general of the India China Economic and Cultural Council, speaks to China.org.cn about China-India relations in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 4, 2017. [Photo/China.org.cn]") |
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Mohammed Saqib, secretary-general of the India China Economic and Cultural Council, speaks to China.org.cn about China-India relations in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 4, 2017. [Photo/China.org.cn] |
"I think BRICS is going to play an important role in the future, it has major new economic powers together and it can be expanded to the BRICS Plus to have more countries come in," said Mohammed Saqib, secretary-general of the India China Economic and Cultural Council. "India also can play an important role because it is one of the biggest markets. China is going to take a lead in all the multilateral organizations. As I see it, the development of the mechanism of BRICS and the contribution it will make to the world in the future will depend on the relationship between China and India.”
In his eyes, China and India will never be rivals. "China is too big and too powerful for India to treat China as a rival. China is our biggest trading partner, and the most direct investment in India comes from China.”
"The recent stand-off was an unfortunate incident between India and China and it has an impact on people’s perceptions and real relations between India and China. Thank God it is behind us now," Saqib observed. "I hope that recent incident has taught both countries some lessons and it might have a positive influence in bettering the relationship. What India and China needs is more interactions beyond general protocol and diplomacy and more concern regarding sovereignty and sensitive issues."
Saqib has worked at renowned Indian think tanks including the Institute of Economic Growth, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, and has been a consultant to various organizations, such as the World Bank, European Union, UNDP, UNCTAD, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India.
"I am confident that the past is over and India and China will work together bilaterally and multilaterally. Although China is much more developed than India, we still need each other for peace and prosperity of our people and to make it a truly Asian Century. We have a lot to offer to each other and there is no way that we can progress without each other," he continued.
Saqib also stressed that cultural exchanges in his opinion can play a very important part. "Cultural and people-to-people exchanges... I have already been saying it for last 15 years. India-China cooperation should not depend on economics; it should be more culturally related."
The think tank researcher pointed out, "We, peoples of India and China, are actually cultural people. We are not really business people. At end of the day, what gives us happiness and satisfaction, it is culture. I think culture is going to be a very important part of India-China exchanges. And cultural exchanges actually take our relationship forward. We need more cultural, tourism events and activities, but currently there are very few."
Speaking on the phenomenal success of Indian wrestling drama "Dangal" in China, Saqib said he never expected that, but similar things happened in India. "For example, we have been organizing the Chinese New Year celebrations every year with the Chinese embassy. Initially when we started doing it, we invited some cultural groups from China, and had to find 50 people to watch it. It was so difficult that sometimes we needed to ask our family and friends to come to fill the seats.”
"But today, we have 3,000 seated guests, and we even have to put screens outside and hire more security guards to control people. It has become so popular. When it finishes, people will start calling us the next day asking about when it will happen again next time."
Saqib also mentioned Indian people are very interested in Chinese culture and kung fu movies. He invited Jackie Chan to the first China Film Festival in New Delhi in 2013.
"If you want to win Indian people's hearts, rely on culture," he added.
Mohammed Saqib was invited to attend the BRICS forums held in Fuzhou in June, one of a series of activities preceding the ongoing BRICS summit which will conclude on Sept. 5 in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province.
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