A video featuring Vikram Doraiswami, India’s newly appointed envoy to China, showcasing a tour of the Indian Embassy in Beijing and emphasising the cultural and civilisational ties between the two neighbouring nations in fluent Mandarin, has gained significant traction on Chinese social media.
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The 56-year-old diplomat has garnered popularity in China since his appointment as the new envoy by New Delhi in March of this year, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry acknowledging his Chinese name while welcoming his new role.
Indian ambassador’s Chinese name
“I noted that Ambassador Doraiswami has chosen a Chinese name for himself: Wei Jiameng,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here in March.
Take a tour of the Indian Embassy in Beijing with our new Ambassador @VDoraiswami@MEAIndia@IndianDiplomacy pic.twitter.com/94rcEH6L7T
— India in China (@EOIBeijing) May 30, 2026
His Chinese name, meaning “one who forms an excellent alliance” created a positive buzz on the Chinese official and social media.
This weekend, Doraiswami, who served as the Indian high commissioner in the UK before taking over the current role in March, posted a two-and-a-half-minute video on the embassy’s Chinese social media and X account introducing the various features and facets of the mission, including the civilisational connection between the two countries in Mandarin.
Doraiswami hails Tagore
Standing next to the bust of Rabindranath Tagore, Doraiswami recalled the bard’s visits to China over a century, during which the Nobel Laureate called for the awakening of Asian culture and people.
Tagore emphasised India and China are home to the world’s ancient civilisations with distinct and diverse cultures, music, theatre, fine arts and cuisines, the envoy said.
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The two are the world’s most populous countries, which are very unique in terms of cultures, Doraiswami added, and invited the Chinese to take part in embassy events.
Netizens seek visa restoration
His video received a lot of positive response, with most netizens calling for the restoration of e-visa facilities.
“We wish for enduring friendship between China and India and every success to the Ambassador in his work,” said one person.
“We hope India can further ease visa procedures to facilitate greater people-to-people exchanges between the two countries,” said another.
A Mandarin speaker, he served both in Hong Kong and Beijing diplomatic missions in his early career as a diplomat. He served as Third Secretary in Hong Kong earlier, where he earned an elective diploma in Chinese from the New Asia Yale-in-Asia Language School.
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Doraiswami’s appointment comes amid efforts by the two sides to rebuild relations that came under severe strain following the over four-year military standoff in eastern Ladakh in April 2020.
In the last few months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to the lowest point in decades. The military stand-off effectively ended in October 2024.
Both countries restored visa facilities and flight connections between various cities.
(With agency inputs)
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