Estranged nations India and China trying to rebuild past friendship and trust coalesced to renovate Xuanzang (Hieun Tsang) Memorial Hall in Nalanda in hopes that the friendship they shared for centuries may also be rebuilt. Tsang was a 7th century traveler from China as a student to return as a teacher. A memorial hall to him was dedicated to him about five decades ago but remained incomplete for mainly political reasons.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing brought relics from China and was displayed to the public. He urged both nations to re-start their friendship "from this beautiful example."

As in ancient times, hundreds of Chinese students are to enter the campus of deemed-university Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in Tamil Nadu to pursue degree programs. Part of the Sino-Indian Technology Alliance (SITA), the Chinese government facilitates through physical and financial assistance to the Chinese students. Recently, four to five teams from China visited VIT and the plan is to have 600 students from five Chinese universities and the focus will be on English and Computer Science.

VIT has a memorandum of understanding with six Chinese universities, including Zeng Zhou, South China University of Technology, University of Forestry and Technology at Changsha , he said.