Cultural forum stretches for success

Nobody expects to discuss fitness issues like yoga on occasions of high-end diplomacy, but delegates at the recent K2K forum featuring China-India cooperation did just that.

The two-day forum, which features interprovince cooperation between Southwest China's Yunnan province and India's northeastern states, aims to take subregional ties into all walks of life, such as bringing authentic Indian yoga to more Chinese fans as part of increasing cultural and educational exchanges.

The two Ks stand for Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, and Kolkata, the West Bengal capital formerly known as Calcutta.

Under a proposal raised at the forum on Tuesday, a yoga institute will be set up at the planned China-India Cultural Center at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, with training support from universities in Kolkata.

It will be the second Indian yoga education and promotion institute built in Yunnan after Kunming University established the first one in cooperation with Saraswati Online, an Indian international education agency, in December 2012.

There is no better vehicle than yoga - an Indian mental-physical practice with increasing appeal in China - to further deepen the cultural and educational ties between the two countries, forum participants said.

"Yoga has a very rich history in India as part of broad Indian culture and Indian philosophy. I presume it's appealing to the world community, and a lot of people in China are getting attracted to it," K. Nagaraj Naidu, India's consul-general in Guangzhou, told China Daily at the forum on Tuesday.

"I think yoga is the soft aspect of India. In some ways it symbolizes India, and if you love yoga, you will love India. That's why we are trying to introduce the roots of Indian yoga, not the commercialized ones, to Chinese people."

Yoga's high-profile status as a national cultural icon in India was proved by the recent appointment of a yoga minister, Shripad Yesso Naik.

The age-old body-mind exercise's gentle practice has appealed to an increasing number of urban youths in Chinese cities, with its ability to enhance fitness and mental balance as well as relieve spiritual pressure.

Yunnan, close geographically and culturally to India, has emerged as a bridgehead to promote Indian yoga as well as its profound cultural heritage in China, said Li Xiang, deputy head of Kunming University.

"Picking yoga is definitely a right move. As yoga is very popular among Chinese, introducing it as part of school curriculum and promoting relevant cultural exchanges between China and India are welcomed by a lot of young people," Li said.

Since the establishment of a yoga center in 2012, the university has been offering professional and entry-level yoga courses for physical education majors and other students with the help of an experienced yoga trainer hired from India.

"Yoga courses are really popular at our university, and the seats are usually fully booked by students early on," Li said.

Highlighted by the yoga initiative, a wide range of cultural and educational programs, including the setup of a university alliance, language teaching plans and student and faculty visits, was also proposed at the forum.

"After 12 years' development, the forum has been a window for Sino-Indian cooperation to shine in industry, business, education and tourism against the backdrop of the construction of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar regional economic corridor," said Che Zhimin, secretary-general of the Yunnan provincial political consultative conference.