Twenty Indian Army personnel completed an intensive Mandarin language training program at the Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in the western state of Gujarat last week.

The initiative to provide Chinese language training to army personnel and officers aims to create a more conducive environment for dialogue with their Chinese counterparts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

With Mandarin being the national language of China, India's immediate neighbor, the Indian Army plans to increase the number of Mandarin speakers within its ranks, former Indian defense veterans said.

They expect the demand for learning Mandarin among Indian army personnel to increase in the near future, as this can enhance overall understanding and communication with Chinese soldiers, and help clear misunderstandings during face-to-face interactions.

The 20 army personnel are from the Eastern Command, one of the six operational commands of the Indian Army, headquartered in Kolkata, capital of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. The soldiers, also known as "language messengers" due to their proficiency in Mandarin and familiarity with military terminology, will participate in regular flag meetings, local-level interactions and regular patrols along the LAC. 

"The fluency in language will help the personnel in their day-to-day conversation in border areas, and they will be able to contribute to foster better communication in Chinese language for our national security," RRU Vice Chancellor, Professor Bimal Patel, said.

According to Patel, the army personnel who have completed their Chinese language course in RRU have the potential to make a significant contribution toward rebuilding trust and facilitating mutual respect across borders.

These trained personnel can act as liaison officers and serve as vital links between China and India, promoting greater understanding and collaboration, he added.

Following an entrance examination at the Indian Army's language instruction center in Panagarh, a military base camp in West Bengal, the 20 soldiers were shortlisted to pursue their postgraduate diploma at RRU, said Aparna Varma, director of the School of International Cooperation, Security and Strategic Languages at RRU.

RRU introduced the foreign language course in 2021 in collaboration with the Indian Army.

Since then, many senior officials from various government law enforcement agencies have also pursued Chinese language at RRU. Last year, a police officer from Delhi police also took up the language at the university, added Varma.

Apart from conversational Mandarin, the soldiers also underwent intensive training during their four-month course, so that in future they can pass the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL), said Varma.

Next year, the Eastern Army command will send another batch of 20 students to learn the Chinese language at RRU. 

On Oct 25, Patel, the vice-chancellor, presented certificates to the soldiers who had completed their course, in acknowledgment of their hard work and commitment to learning the language.

Chinese is one of the strategic languages taught at the university. The university also offers other strategic language courses, including Tibetan, Russian, Arabic, and French.

A senior army official from Eastern Command, who declined to be identified, said that the Eastern Army Command had introduced an advanced Chinese language training program at its Panagarh base in 2017.

This was due to an urgent need to overcome the language barrier since it could lead to misunderstandings between troops at the local level, the officer said.

Since then, the Indian Army has signed memorandums of understanding with other Indian universities, including Tezpur University, a central University in the northeastern state of Assam and Shiv Nadar University, to teach Mandarin to army personnel and officers.

Last year, the Indian Army issued a recruitment notice for Chinese language experts in the Territorial Army due to a dearth of such specialists.

As the geopolitical situation continues to develop, the emphasis on linguistic skills reflects the Indian Army's commitment to find a peaceful resolution along the LAC and to maintain effective communication channels, said R.S. Vasan, a retired Indian navy commodore who is now the director of the Chennai Centre for China Studies, a think tank.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.