Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist October 2019 | Page 27

SPECIAL REPORT
for the Indo-Russian civilizational encounter.
Kalidasa, Prem Chand and Krishan Chander
were as popular in Russia as were Tolstoy, Gorky,
Pushkin and Dostoevsky in India. The famous
Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin said this about
Kalidasa’s works, “for me Kalidasa is no less
important than Homer.” Alexander Pushkin had a
great interest in Ramayana. Russian Translations
of Gita and Sakuntala appeared in 1788 and
1792 respectively (Usha 2018). Generations of
Indians have grown reading Russian/Soviet books,
magazines and periodicals.
Russian perception of India with respect and
honour has a soft power impact. Unlike Europeans,
Russians who visited in medieval times imagined
India as a ‘fairyland’ with fantastic animals,
fabulous riches and wise sages. The fi rst Russian
writing on India appeared in the 12th-13th century
known as “The Relation about India” or “The
Story of India the Rich”. Russian merchant from
the city of Tver, Afanasy Nikitin visited India
in the 15th century (1446-1472) before Vasco
Da Gama. His account of Indian life, A Journey
Beyond Three Seas (Khozhdenieza tri moria)
is considered as the fi rst eyewitness account of
India by a Russian. Gerasim Lebedev, a Russian
traveller reached India in 1785 was considered
the fi rst Russian Indologist who had expertise
in music, drama, Sanskrit and Bengali language
that he learned from a Bengali Pandit, Goloknath
Das. Journalist N. I. Novikov, who worked for the
journal, Supplement to the Moscow News, has
noted the plight of India under British rule. The
revolutionary democrats and writers like Belinsky,
Cheknyshevsky and Dobrolnbov had extremely
high regards for Indian cultural values and spiritual
ethos (Usha 2018).
India’s foreign minister Jaishankar in his
visit to Russia in September 2019 proclaims
India-Russia relations is “a stable factor in
international life.” India-Russia relation is
often qualified as an all-weather and time
tested partnership based on the convergence of
interests, civilizational commonalities, mutual
trust and unity of perception on global issues and
geopolitical priorities as PM Modi rightly pointed
out in the EEF and 20th Summit meetings. The
emotional character of both nations is similar, that
is, the pursuit of truth and justice.
India-Russia relationship has global
significance because of their role in the
international political system to achieve global
strategic stability, modernization, prosperity and
democratic multipolar world order. Finally, the use
of soft power assets is aimed at supporting India’s
political and economic engagements with Eastern
Economic Forum, Eurasian Economic Union,
regional connectivity initiatives and cooperation
with Russia’s Far East. In this regard, PM
Modi’s contribution in 5th EFF and 20th annual
bilateral summit has opened a “new chapter” in
Russia-India relations by enhancing cooperation
in Russia’s Far East and making inroads into Asia-
Pacifi c, which is the most dynamic region in the
international system. India’s announcement of
Act Far East policy and investment of $1 billion
dollars in Russian Far East off ers new opportunity
to boost cooperation in various areas in the Indo-
Pacifi c region. 
Russia’s Afanasy Nikitin
was one of the fi rst
Europeans to give a
detailed account of life
in India
References
Gruzdeva, Andrey A., Anastasiya V.
Konukhovab and Sergey A. Podyapolskiy.
(2015), “India’s Soft Power: Images and
Components”, Journal of Siberian Federal
University. Humanities & Social Sciences, No.
8, pp. 1724-1737. Retrieved from elib.sfu-kras.
ru/bitstream/handle/2311/19739/20_Gruzdev.pd
f;jsessionid=C58FE7A117A9D4521669949C48
F4FCFA?sequence=1
Ministry of External Aff airs (MEA). (2019,
September 5), “Reaching New Heights of
Cooperation through Trust and Partnership,”
India - Russia Joint Statement during visit of
Prime Minister to Vladivostok. Retrieved from
https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.
htm?dtl/31795/India__Russia_Joint_Statement_
during_visit_of_Prime_Minister_to_Vladivostok
Nye, Joseph S. (1990), “Soft Power”, Foreign
Policy, No. 80, (Autumn, 1990), pp. 153-171.
----------------------. (2004), Soft Power: The
Means to Success in World Politics, New York:
Public Aff airs.
Tharoor, Shashi. (2011), “India as a Soft
Power,” India International Centre Quarterly,
Vol. 38, No. 3/4, (Winter 2011 - Spring 2012),
pp. 330-343
Usha, K. B. (2018), “India-Russia Relations
in the Emerging World Order”, in Josukutty C. A.
and J. Prabhash, eds., (2018), India’s Bilateral
Relations and Foreign Policy, New Delhi: New
Century Publications, pp. 110-130.
*Author is Associate Professor, Centre for
Russian and Central Asian Studies, School of
International Studies, New Delhi
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 10 • October 2019, Noida • 27