1.2.7. Cultural Relations

♤ There are regular cultural initiatives to promote people-to-people contacts between India and Russia, including reciprocal Years of Culture.

♤ There is a strong tradition of Indian studies in Russia. Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre at the Embassy of India, Moscow (JNCC) maintains close cooperation with leading Russian institutions, including the Institute of Philosophy (Moscow); Russian State University for Humanities (Moscow); Institute of Oriental Studies (Moscow); Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Moscow State University; School of International Relations of the St. Petersburg University; Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (St Petersburg); Peter the Great Museum of Anthropoalogy & Ethnography (Kunstkamera) in St Petersburg; Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok);and Russian Institute for Cultural Research (Krasnodar).

♤ There is a Mahatma Gandhi Chair on Indian Philosophy in the Institute of Philosophy, Moscow.

♤ About 20 Russian Institutions, including leading universities and schools, regularly teach Hindi to about 1500 Russian students.

♤ The President of India inaugurated the Year of Indian Culture ‘Namaste Russia’ in Moscow on 10 May 2015. About 15 performances in 8 cities were held as part of ‘Namaste Russia’ across various parts of Russia over 2015.

♤ The Embassy with support from regional governments organized week-long celebrations marking the third International Day of Yoga (IDY) covering 68 regions spanning 87 locations and involving over 37685 Yoga enthusiasts.

♤ During the previous Summit in October, the leaders adopted a ‘Roadmap of Events’ to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between India and Russia with year-long celebrations in 2017 under which numerous events have already been held in both countries.

1.3. 70 Years: An Assessment of Prospects and Challenges

♤ A report on the state of ties between the two nations brought out by two think tanks (VIF and Russian International Affairs Council) calls for a major revamp of the engagement between the once-close partners.

♤ Once seen as closer to the former Soviet Union, India’s ties with the US have undergone a dramatic change in recent years, with Washington emerging as a key source of military hardware for India. New Delhi also has close to three dozen dialogues with Washington— unthinkable during the Cold War years when the US was seen as a major ally of Pakistan.

♤ Meanwhile, the once close India-Russia ties have developed signs of strain with Moscow’s growing ties with Islamabad. Once seen as being on the same page over the threat posed by the Pakistan-backed Taliban in Afghanistan, India and Russia now have differences on the subject with Moscow seemingly more worried about the threat posed by the Islamic State than Taliban.

♤ India’s concerns of Russia’s ties with New Delhi’s strategic rival China casting a shadow over Moscow-New Delhi relations. New Delhi also views Moscow’s recent reaching out to India’s arch rival Pakistan as a subset of Russia-China ties.

♤ In the case of Russia, Moscow has been worried about the growing warmth in India-US ties.

♤ Aprt from geopolitical factors, “an imperfect legal framework, tariff and non-tariff trade limitations, the lack of up-to-date information on political processes in both countries; the low level of business contacts; and the outdated images of both Russia and India their citizens have” are some of the impediments standing in the way of a new partnership between the two nations.