N K Singh in Singapore

SINGAPORE: The Indian government plans to revive one of its biggest universities in ancient times and is seeking Singapore's help to do so. Once a renowned centre for Buddhist scholarship from the 5th till 12th Century, the Nalanda University now lies in ruin. Buddhist pilgrimages are gaining popularity, and interest in visiting holy sites in India is likely to increase. The Indian government is gearing up to meet this increase by channelling over US$1b to promote its Buddhist circuits. Central to its plans is the development of a new 600-acre Nalanda University at the Indian state of Bihar. In a video link address, India's President Abdul Kalam set his vision for the university as a centre for learning and promotion of peace. Indian officials said the challenges ahead include curriculum planning and the availability of resources. They hope to establish an international consortium to get the project going, and could use Singapore's help. So far, Japan has shown very strong interest in funding it and the entire tourist circuit package. "Singapore can play the role of a facilitator, a catalyst in being able to garner support from countries in this region, so it's a regional initiative can have more tangible shape. Singapore, we expect, will play the role of bringing partnership of countries in the region and hopefully in the management of the university; we expect Singapore to be part of the management structure," said N K Singh, Deputy Chairman of Bihar Planning Board, India. He added that India will also upgrade infrastructure and transportation system to facilitate Buddhist tourism. In the last two years, tourist arrivals to India rose by 32 percent. "From the economic dimension, a greater to-ing and fro-ing between east and west will always be good for us; the Buddhist community here is very keen to get involved in some Buddhist projects in India, but we got to see what projects these should be. More important than all these is that it will help create a sense of common understanding and common heritage throughout Asia and it's valuable," said George Yeo, Foreign Affairs Minister. India is expected to present its plans on the Nalanda Project at the East Asian Summit in the Philippines in December. Mr Yeo said more concrete projects will be discussed next year when the East Asian leaders meet in Singapore. It is hoped that by then, the museums in Singapore could organise exhibitions relating to Buddhist heritage. -