Mumbai, Oct 27, 2016 (GPN) : In a unique initiative to facilitate increased dialogue between the youth of India and China, a people-to-people forum called India China Youth Dialogue (ICYD) has kicked off a series of activities including close interactions, intellectual discussions, visits and exchange of ideas to further enhance cooperation across the sectors, especially in education, IT and startup culture.

The first panel discussion in the series was hosted by Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Management Studies and Research (VESIM), involving a large number of management students, Chinese delegates and members of ICYD, at Chembur on Tuesday. The ICYD was formed in March 2015 with the aim of increasing interactions between the people of both the countries to know each other better, as the follow up of the Youth Delegation programme launched by both the governments in 2006 and the celebration of 2011 as `Year of China-India Exchange.” The number of youth exchanges in both the countries has crossed 3000 by now.

“There is an increased scope for mutual cooperation in key areas like IT and startup apart from education. The youth are the future and the enhanced interaction between the youth will be more sustainable,” said Zhao Dali, Secretary General of China International Public Relation Association, who headed the delegation.

“There should be more communication between the young people on both the sides. This is the right platform to improve the Indo-China relation across the sectors through health dialogues,” pointed out Romeo Wang, Co-founder and president (China) of ICYD.

“The platform has been set up to facilitate understanding of Chinese and Indian culture on both the sides. The idea is to make the people know each other better. We want to encourage talented youth to take actions to create long-term mutually beneficial relationships,” said Ashish Chauhan, co-founder and secretary general of ICYD. He said, the Facebook group had already 300 active members from both the sides, exchanging posts on different subjects.

“VESIM wanted to host this interaction, because the institute represented the youth and is the right place for healthy and intellectual dialogue as a premier institution of learning,” said, Dr. Sandeep Bharadwaj, Dean Academics of VESIM, while welcoming the delegates.

The interaction by both the sides called for increased exchange of knowledge to create more opportunities across the sectors. The panelists pointed out that both countries have similar campaigns offering higher level of bilateral cooperation. In line with India’s `Make in India’, China also has a campaign titled `Made in China 2025’. Likewise, parallel to `Start up & Stand up” campaign, China has `Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation” initiative, they pointed out.