China backs Nalanda project by Ananth Krishnan

China on Friday reiterated its backing to the initiative to rebuild Nalanda University, even as the Governing Board of the University held a board meeting in the Chinese capital and discussed the university’s future with the Chinese leadership.

The Governing Board, led by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, was invited to hold a board meeting in China by Premier Wen Jiabao following last year’s meeting of the East Asia Summit, which had earlier declared its support to the project.

The board on Friday also met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, who reiterated China’s backing to the initiative. China has already announced it would donate U.S. $1 million to the project.

"The proposal to reestablish Nalanda University is one of the key projects of the East Asia Summit," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin said at a briefing earlier this week.

The members of the Governing Board spent this week in Xian, once an ancient Chinese capital and centre of Buddhist learning, accompanied by officials from the Indian Embassy in Beijing.