China's first college of Yoga, set up with India's help in Kunming city will become a bridge for China-India friendship, a Chinese official has said.
The India-China college was inaugurated by Minister of External Affairs VK Singh at Yunnan University of Nationalities (YUN) in Kunming on Saturday, following a cooperation memorandum signed between China and India in May.
"The university has confidence to build the college into an influential brand with its own characteristics, a platform for cultural exchange and a bridge for Sino-Indian friendship," Peng Jinhui, president of the university said.
All students who enroll at the college will have the chance to study at the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga in India, and those who qualify will be granted international yoga training certificates.
"Students can also apply for scholarships from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations," said Fan Jing, director of International affairs at YUN.
With China still lacking an accepted yoga standard, the Indian teachers will help standardise yoga techniques, Fan said.
"If a standard curriculum is set up, and our diploma becomes recognised by our education authorities, we could start enrolling high school graduates," she was quoted as saying by state-run China Daily today.
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations will send two teachers to design the curriculum for a short-term course, defined as three to six months, and a long-term course, lasting 12 months. There will be three classes.
The elementary class will require 120 class hours to earn a certificate; the intermediate class will require 240 hours; and the advanced, 360 hours.
In addition to yoga practice, there will be classes on Indian culture and philosophy.
The college will not start enrolling students until August, Fun said.
She explained that YUN has a long-term history of cooperation and cultural exchanges with India.
It is one of eight institutions in China, and the only one in southwest China, offering Hindi as a language major.
"YUN has sent around 30 of its Hindi language students to study in India for a year since 2011," Fan said.
In 2011, they studied at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India in Gujarat, where prime minister Narendra Modi, a yoga enthusiast, was chief minister from 2001 to 2014.
"The arrival of our students was covered by the local media, and Modi met our students at that time. So he knew our school. The Chinese students who met President Xi Jinping during his visit to India visit last year were mainly from our school," Fan said.
Yoga courses have been offered by the College of Ethnic Minority Sports at YUN for few years.
"Our experience of yoga education has also given us credit and confidence in the cooperation," Fan said.
