They tell me that India is totally different depending on where you venture. But many Indians are uniting under the success of Slumdog Millionaire, which has one scene that relates to China's economic rise.

The movie's hero meets his gangster brother on the top of a new high-rise apartment and points across the city skyline. He proudly says Mumbai is the center of India and India is the center of the world.

China is not the only middle kingdom enjoying success.

As Slumdog Millionaire also reveals, Indians enjoy having a laugh at themselves and also put strong value on good relations, just like the Chinese.

The New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) recently conducted an Indian survey, which showed that building business relationships is as much about sharing cultures and humor as trying to conclude deals.

NZTE's outgoing South Asia trade commissioner Paul Vaughan said Indians seemed to think Australians were more fun to deal with than New Zealanders when it came to business negotiations. The Aussies do love a drink or 20 (there I go, stereotyping again).

Vaughan urged his Kiwi countrymen to take time to build long-term relationships in India and share a bit of laughter along the way.

As the hugely successful Slumdog Millionaire has proven, everybody always wants to laugh.