A scene from 3 idiots

New Delhi, Sept. 17: Bollywood’s 2009 blockbuster 3 idiots, unseated by Chennai Express as the country’s highest-grossing film, can now instead boast a new badge of honour as diplomatic courier between India and China.

External affairs minister Salman Khurshid today gifted visiting Chinese information minister Cai Mingzhao a copy of the Aamir Khan-starrer that underpins Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s persistent public message to India’s eastern neighbour — that there’s enough geopolitical space for both nations to grow.

“It’s the perfect film for us to gift — both as a sign of our friendship, and in terms of the message it conveys,” a senior foreign ministry official told The Telegraph.

Globally, India and China are frequently posited by economists, and seen by other nations, as rivals battling each other for resources, investments from the developed would, and geopolitical heft. Across large parts of Africa, and increasingly in Latin America, the neighbours are competing for influence and for markets.

A festering boundary dispute that periodically flares up — as it did when Chinese troops entered territory claimed by India in eastern Ladakh in April — adds to the image of ongoing tussle between China’s dragon and India’s elephant.

But tackling their internal economic challenges remains the priority for both nations, and away from the public glare, India and China have almost sealed a border security pact to minimise repeats of the April incident while they discuss a more permanent resolution to the border dispute.

The pact may be signed when the Prime Minister visits Beijing late October.

Salman Khurshid and Cai Mingzhao

China is today India’s biggest trade partner, and speaking to journalists yesterday, Khurshid sought greater investments from China.

Today, he even indicated that India may review its security-related curbs on Chinese telecom and electronics equipment.

“Our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, as you will recall, has said on many occasions that there is enough room in the world for India and China to grow together and flourish,” Khurshid said on Monday, citing the Chinese notion of shijie datong — a harmonious world. Today, he reinforced that message with his gift.

The film that was Bollywood’s most financially successful film till the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chennai Express steamed past it this year is themed on the ceaseless competition in India’s top higher education institutions.

Students of a college in the film are repeatedly bombarded with the message that they must compete hard and view batch-mates as rivals to be beaten.

“Life is a race,” the principal of the college famously says. “If you don’t run fast, you’ll get trampled.” But the lead character, a student played by Aamir instead encourages his friends to pursue their interests, and help each other.

“All is well,” this character frequently repeats.

The film resonated in China too, with its Mandarin version crossing $ 2 million in earnings – the highest ever for an Indian film in that country.

Cai, the information minister who is here with a group of senior Chinese journalists visiting India as a part of a media exchange programme, hasn’t seen the film, senior officials here said. But his boss in government, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang loved the film, regaling Indian diplomats with stories of how his daughter and he laughed through the funniest parts of the movie, when he visited India in May.

The two nations are also discussing a blueprint to enhance film cooperation, apart from institutionalizing media exchange programmes. India has invited China as the guest country of honour at the November 2014 International Film Festival in Goa.