Indo-Korean Business Culture Centre, Mata Sundri College for Women ink pact to promote Korean language & culture

NEW DELHI: Mata Sundri College for Women, University of Delhi and Indo-Korean Business Culture Centre (IKBCC) has joined hands to promote Korean language and culture amongst the college students and expose them to the world of opportunities, as well as cooperate and coordinate on various related aspects.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed between Mata Sundri College for Women and IKBCC, South Korea on 22 April 2023 at Mata Sundri College for Women. Both the sides decided to enter into this Framework of Academic Collaboration Agreement in order to promote, facilitate and consolidate international cooperation in education and research, based on the principles of reciprocity and mutual benefit.

Dr. Harpreet Kaur, Principal Mata Sundri College for Women and Ms. Zena Chung, Founder and Director Indo-Korean Business Culture Centre, South Korea signed the Agreement in the presence of Dr. Uzma Nadeem, Assistant Professor, Mata Sundri College for Women and Sanjeev K. Ahuja, Founder & Editor-in Chief/CEO, Foreign Affairs – Asia and Dr. J S Sabharwal, former Associate Professor, Sri Guru Nanak Dev  Khalsa College, New Delhi.

With a current total strength of about 5000 students and situated in the heart of New Delhi, the Mata Sundri College for Women (MSC) is named after Mata Sundri Ji, an able leader of Khalsa and the consort of Guru Gobind Singh ji. She was the first transformational leader of the Sikhs who donned the leadership role in times of turmoil to guide the Khalsa. Padma Shri S. Vikramjit Singh Sahney is the Chairman of the Governing Body of the institution.

As per the agreement between MSC and IKBCC, each institution will designate where needed, a lead coordinator for the activities or programs of potential cooperation that may form the basis for specific cooperation agreements to be executed between the parties. Besides implementation modalities specifying academic, organizational, technical and financial aspects, specific cooperation agreements shall contain terms relating to intellectual property rights and procedures for publication etc.

Dr. Harpreet Kaur, Principal Mata Sundri College for Women seeks to foster multi-stakeholder partnerships and also have a sustained engagement with them. The main stakeholders of institutions of higher learning are the students —who are in their formative years.

“I aim to create a conducive environment for them so that they are emboldened to embark on their new journey with confidence, competence and caliber and be successful in the present times marked by unprecedented changes. Here, they have the opportunities to develop their innate capabilities under the guidance and mentoring of proficient faculty and dedicated support staff.”

According to Dr. Sabharwal, former Associate Professor, SGND Khalsa College, unfortunately the majority of youths in India were overwhelmed by the western culture, and therefore were driven more to learning western languages, and thus the East Asian culture and studies largely remained ignored. “Time is ripe to embrace East Asian culture which is very like that of Indian culture, and learn more about the countries like Japan, Korea and others including Taiwan and ASEAN. The educational institutions must start offering Japanese, Korean and Mandarin languages to their students as these languages are going to fetch them ample employment opportunities and promise better future prospects,. These languages would not bring them closer to the Asian culture but also save them from becoming culturally bankrupt,” Dr. Sabharwal added.