The NUS Asia Research Institute (ARI) launched the Nalanda Endowed Professorship in India-China Studies. The Professorship aims to advance research and teaching on India-China relations – namely, the political, economic, historical and cultural interactions between India and China with the ultimate aim to influence policy and enhance societal understanding in the interdisciplinary field.
The Professorship is funded by a kind S$3 million donation from the Nalanda Library Fund Limited (NLFL) presented by Former Minister Mr George Yeo in his capacity as NLFL Trustee to ARI Director, Professor Tim Bunnell in a ceremony attended by NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye at NUS this afternoon.
The NLFL was formed to raise donations towards the Nalanda University Library in India for study, research, and teaching facilities. It has as trustees Mr Yeo, Executive Chairman of Ho Bee Land Mr Chua Thian Poh and Professor Wang Gungwu of NUS University. Singapore donors had committed to giving up to S$10 million for the building of the library to be undertaken by Singapore architects. Following cancellations of plans, the Trustees resolved, with the consent of all donors, that the balance of S$3 million be given to NUS to set up the Nalanda Endowed Professorship in India-China Studies.
NUS Professor Tan had stated, "NUS is pleased to collaborate with the Nalanda Library Fund Limited on setting up the Nalanda Endowed Professorship in India-China Studies in ARI. The partnership signals our mutual efforts in bringing forward the rich history and ongoing implications of India-China relations and helping develop this branch of scholarship".
He said, "By encouraging research on the many ways India and China have influenced one another over centuries, this Nalanda Endowed Professorship will help bring greater understanding between the two nations in ways that are ballast for regional prosperity and stability today and in the future".
The Professorship will be granted to eminent scholars in the field for a fixed duration. The chair professor (otherwise referred to as the Chair) will drive new research through a sustained project on India-China relations, direct archival projects to gather, digitise and conserve original materials pertaining to historical research on India-China relations and their regional impact, mentor graduate students, and also contribute to the wider discourse in the field through interactions with the academic and policymaking communities and the public in the form of workshops, public lectures and an annual conference. The world is already on the lookout for the initial Chair.
Prof Bunnell stated, "Trans-Asian research has been in ARI's DNA for some years, the Nalanda Endowed Professorship in India-China Studies draws on this tradition of trans-regional research. We anticipate the new professorship complementing the valuable work offered by ARI's Asian Peace Programme on India and China by placing contemporary geo-politics as one among many forms of relations between these two historically significant Asian nations".
Mr Yeo, who is also a current visiting scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS added, "The hope for peace and development in our region this century rests partly on good relations between China and India. I hope the professorship can, in a small way, promote greater understanding between these two great civilizations. Southeast Asia is where the Indian and Chinese mandalas intersect. We offer a natural venue for the holding of deliberations on their encounter with one another over the centuries in various fields and their contribution to Southeast Asia".
