Dr. Jaishankar on Singapore’s Impact on India and China 印度外长苏杰生论李光耀如何改变中国

The China-born Singaporean newspaper chief editor Lien Shih Sheng once wrote, “Any accomplished Chinese intellectual, is destined to indulge himself into the fascinating Indian cultures”. I fully concur. The huge impact of India on China’s culture and history had been known to all Chinese intellectuals but is criminally unaware by their Indian counterparts.
Dangal is the highest grossing Indian movie of all time, with a global box office of $300 million, of which the China market contributed $200 million, followed by India market’s $80 million. My Indian friends are extremely curious (or puzzled?) about this, and I have no problem convincing most of them why Dangal was so much emotionally loved by and culturally resonate with the Chinese public. For those who are yet to be convinced and thought the box office figure was faked, they often lack the appreciation of the greatness of their own cultures, I observed.
Bajrangi Bhai-jaan is another Hindi movie well received by Chinese youngsters and my personal favorite. It promotes Hindi-Paki brotherhood by which the Chinese audience were touched and teared. I once told a respected Pakistani diplomat, that Islamabad cannot befriend China based on the misconception that China is still under Maoism, but a vibrant and modern society. Should Pakistan continue to prosper, not only Pakistan needs to maintain good relationship with China, but more importantly, with India. I firmly believe one day people will not be shy to chant Hindi-Paki Bhai Bhai.
A few years back I had an interesting chat with a senior Indian friend. Like many overseas Indians (Fareed Zakaria included), he casted his doubt on India’s future, as “people in India are undisciplined and chaotic, compared to the Chinese or Japanese”. I shocked him with a secret probably he would ever remember for the rest of his life, and here it is: “in the 80s China was opening up, when they looked up at the US, Europe, Japan and Malaysia the Chinese were desperate like hell. They were so shocked by the outside world and 99% of the Chinese then told themselves, that China is so hopeless and she will never be able catch up with these countries in 100 years, as we Chinese are so undisciplined, so chaotic, so stupid, which are so embedded in our biological and cultural DNA.”
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