Media could play more positive role in China-India relations: scholars

The mass media of China and India could play a more positive role in the bilateral relations between the two emerging countries, scholars said on Wednesday at a seminar in Singapore.

Speaking at the India-China Dialogue on the role of the media in bilateral relations organized by several research institutions, Tansen Sen, head of the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Center, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said there is a lack of knowledge and awareness in the media about the other country.

India is not as important as it should be in Chinese media's perspective, and vice versa, he said.

Some of the Indian media is not familiar with the increasing diversity of the Chinese media, and the sourcing of information is at times problematic, too, he said.

The media themselves have been an issue at times in reshaping the bilateral relations in an unfavorable direction, Sen said, adding that the seminar was organized to bring together the media practitioners from both countries for a discussion.

The India-China Dialogue was jointly organized by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the East Asian Institute at the NUS, the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, and the Observer Research Foundation of India.

The two-day seminar brought many scholars and journalists from several renowned media such as China's Xinhua News Agency, the Global Times, the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, as well as the Indian Express, the Financial Express in India and the Hindu.

Mao Xiaoxiao, a correspondent at the New Delhi Bureau of Xinhua, shared her experience of reporting from India and her personal experience in India. Chinese media have been looking to India for what China can learn from India in areas such as IT and movie industry, she said.

She also spoke about the skepticism she ran into while reporting from India.

M K Venu, managing editor of the Financial Express in India, said the financial newspapers have been reporting on the progress in the relations between the two developing countries, who are both members of the BRIC countries, saying that it is changing for the better despite the still existing skepticism.

It is about time the media play a more positive role in promoting understanding and collaboration between the two countries, some of the journalists and scholars said.

It is estimated that there are no more than ten Indian journalists based in China. Some of the scholars call for more interactions between the media persons of the two countries and more high-quality talent for the media to engage each other.