SINGAPORE : India may be an economic powerhouse, but soon the country could also become an intellectual centre in Asia.

Work is underway to re-establish the ancient Nalanda University in Bihar, India.

And the Nalanda Mentor Group overseeing the project is meeting in Singapore to chart the road ahead for the university.

The 11-member group will steer the direction of Nalanda University from the past, to the present and future.

Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo is a member of the group.

Already, it has structured the basic core areas of study - philosophy and Buddhist studies, regional history, business and management studies, international relations and peace studies and the study of Asian languages.

It is hoped that reviving the ancient university will also strengthen ties between China and India.

Mr Yeo said: "In a sense it is a replay of old historical patterns and if this relationship between India and China is a peaceful one, then we in Southeast Asia will boom together with China and India. But should these two great countries clash, then all of us in between will have a much harder future for ourselves.

"In other words, we have a powerful vested interest in seeing East and South Asia meet and interact in a harmonious way leading to the common benefit of all and it is for this reason the Nalanda project is something which we support and favour very readily."

Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam first raised the idea of reviving the Nalanda University when he visited Singapore two years ago.

President Kalam himself is an accomplished scholar and rocket scientist.

The Nalanda Mentor Group will meet again to discuss other issues, including funding.

The university will be some 600 acres in size and is likely to take several thousand post-graduate students when it starts classes sometime in 2009. - CNA/ch