Mangalore (TIP): Manipal University has signed agreements with Shanghai’s Tongji and Tianjin universities for mutual, comprehensive partnerships.

Quoting the Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University, K. Ramnarayan, a press release said here on Monday that the MoUs are for mutual, comprehensive partnerships in the areas of student exchange, faculty exchange, joint degrees, twinning programmes, and the exchange of research scholars and post-doctoral fellows.

It will also facilitate exchange of academic publications, materials and information.

Ramnarayan signed the documents on behalf of Manipal University, and Xia Liping, Dean of Politics and International Relations of Tongji University, and Li Jiajun of Tianjin University, signed the documents on the behalf of their respective universities.

“It is a step towards Manipal University’s long-term plan of opening the first-ever campus of an Indian university in China. Eventually we would like to see free creative flow both ways, as we have between India and the United States. For some reason, we have ignored the potential of China, and that is something we want to tap,” Ramnarayan said.

The release said that Manipal University is in talks with Chinese officials to open a campus there. Now Manipal University has campuses in Dubai, Nepal, Antigua and Malaysia.

Ramnarayan said he is keen to bring Chinese students to India, as an increasing number of their students are pursuing higher education overseas. China is beginning to recognise the qualities of Indian universities, he added.
A delegation from Manipal University had visited these universities in June and last week, the release added.