India losing English-speaking benefit

China is already the world’s second biggest economy after the US, moving ahead of Japan a few months ago. An official of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which last week asked schools to introduce Chinese as a subject from the next academic session, said, "It’s time Indians learn Mandarin, or Chinese, as much as the Chinese are busy polishing their English and taking lessons in Hindi."

China has overtaken the US to become India’s largest trade partner, and bilateral trade is expected to be around US$60 billion in 2010.

The Economic Times of India reports Professor Yasheng Huang from the MIT Sloan School of Management as saying that the Indian government’s emphasis on teaching and learning of Chinese is timely.

"It will be inevitable for China to shift from this export-driven emphasis to domestic consumption model. If much of the economy is driven by domestic market, it will be more important to understand the Chinese culture and language."