Editor's note: Rabi Sankar Bosu is an Indian contributor to Chinese media outlets. He writes about Chinese politics, social and cultural issues, and China-India relations with a special interest in the Belt and Road Initiative. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The concept of building a "community of shared future for mankind," proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his 2013 speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, advocates the needs of increasing inter-civilization exchanges to promote harmonious coexistence and development of the whole world. China's proposals for building a community with a shared future has been widely recognized by the international community, and was even incorporated into a UN resolution in February 2017. 

There are obvious differences between cultures and civilizations, but they are a precondition for communication instead of an obstacle or a hindrance to facilitate the progress of humankind. As President Xi noted in his speech at the United Nations Office in Geneva on January 18, 2017: "Delicious soup is made by combining different ingredients. Diversity of human civilizations not only defines our world, but also drives progress of mankind."

However, the gap created by cultural differences will be overcome with increased communication and mutual understanding. After all, cultural differences are not the main theme. It is the commonality of cultures and the empathy of humanity that hold the key to exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations.

For example, renowned Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. This also showed that Oriental culture can be understood and recognized by all nations. In Tagore's works, language is no longer just the carrier of content, but can transcend the cultural universality of language because his works contain certain Chinese wisdom and elements. Tagore, who had set foot in China many times, integrated his understanding and love of Chinese culture into his works. He was fond of Lao Tzu's classic philosophical work "Tao Te Ching." He understood that China and India, as two ancient civilizations, need to interact with each other and also with the world.

During President Xi's visit to India, he delivered a speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs on September 18, 2014 where he invoked Tagore's poetry and stated that he had read Tagore's works including "Gitanjali," "Stray Birds," "The Gardener" and "The Crescent Moon." He said these works had deeply inspired him and had impacted his outlook on life.

In the post-pandemic era, the disadvantages of industrialization and consumerism are becoming increasingly prominent. People should clearly recognize that, first of all, the profound accumulation of ancient civilizations is fertile soil for the steady development of modern civilizations. Secondly, the inheritance and innovation of ancient civilizations is an important support for the soft power of modern culture.

China and India are both Eastern civilizations living side by side for thousands of years. Ancient eastern cultures have given the two countries a long-term perspective and great wisdom in dealing with their problems. Furthermore, the two countries have a solid foundation for sustainable development and nourish the development of modern society in their own cultural traditions. As neighboring countries, India and China should promote dialogues on the two civilizations and strengthen people-to-people bonds while putting aside their differences. 

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could be a good opportunity and platform for the two countries to form an objective and friendly bridge between the people of the two countries. The BRI has two key points: one is connectivity while the other is people-to-people connection to build and form a lot of cooperative relationships and interpersonal relations to strengthen people-to-people exchanges. If the two close neighbors can further promote connectivity and exchanges under the framework of the BRI, they will surely build better modern civilization and culture.

Looking back at their cultural and people-to-people exchanges from ancient times to today, the peoples of India and China should enhance their mutual understanding and renew their cultural synergy. The two countries can organically combine their traditional culture with their bilateral relations to improve their cultural soft power and promote the development of society, people's livelihood and economy, which is of great significance to maintaining peace, stability and development of the region and even the world.

India and China are not only two important neighboring countries, but also the world's two largest developing countries with global influence. If the two countries pay more attention to cooperation in culture, trade and other fields and work together, it will inject more impetus into each other's development and contribute to the common development of the world. India and China need to work together to build lasting friendship to revitalize "the Asian Century."

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