India Foundation’s Center for Soft Power hosted a round table on the theme “India – Russia Soft Power Relations” in collaboration with the Russian Center of Science & Culture. The round table was attended by numerous esteemed guests including H. E. Oleg N. Avdeev, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Chennai.
Speaking on the topic of “India through the eyes of a diplomat” he described his journey from being a budding Indophile visiting India for the first time, to now being the Consul General and having travelled extensively across the country. He said “The first time I came to India in 1984, I learnt many things that I have never learned while studying India before. Speaking on his experiences in rural India, he said “I was greatly impressed by the simplicity and devotion with which people live their lives.”
Other speakers included Mr. Gennedii A. Rogalev, the Director of Russian Center of Science and Culture, Mr. Venkatesh Kumar, Director and Screenwriter, Mr. R. Muthukumar, Founder– President, BRICS generation and Mr. & Mrs. D. K. Hari, authors. They spoke on “India – Russia Soft Power Relations”, “Role of Cinema in Russia”, “Russian relations in South India” and “India – Russia relations – A connect over a millennia” respectively. The speakers covered a gamut of topics like Language, Cinema, Painting, Poetry, Games like chess, Defence Equipments, Diamonds, Circus, Science & Technology and map the connect between India and Russia on these themes. The discussion also featured a presentation on the influence of Indian culture in Russia and a performance inspired by the Panchatantra tales by CSP Research Fellow Pavithra Srinivasan, as well as a presentation of Yoga's growing popularity in Russia by CSP Junior Research Fellow, Aman Nair.