Roundtable on “India-Russia Soft Power Relations”

Roundtable on “India-Russia Soft Power Relations”

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.

CSP hosted its first "India-Russia Soft Power Realtions" Roundtable in collaboration with the Russian Center of Science and Culture

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.”

H.E. Oleg N. Avdeev, Consul General of Russia in Chennai , enlightened the roundtable on his journey of coming to India and experiencing the country through the perspective of a diplomat

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.

Mr. Gennadii A. Rogalev, Director, Russian Center of Science and Culture spoke on the topic of India-Russia Soft Power relations, exploring the history and the different facets of the cultural relationship between the two countries

Mr. Venkatesh Kumar, Director & Screenwriter, spoke about the role of Cinema in India and Russia's cultural relations as well as the work he has done to promote close relations between the two countries in the field of Cinema

Mr. R. Muthukumar, Founder – President, BRICS generation spoke on the need to create more direct links between India and Russia at the state level, and the need to ensure that these cultural interactions are not solely limited to cities like Delhi.

Mr & Mrs D. K. Hari, Authors, delivered a presentation on the topic of India–Russia relations: A connect over a Millennia. They delved into the civilisational links between India and Russia and how the two societies have had large scale exchanges in many fields throughout history

Pavithra Srinivasan, Research Fellow at CSP & accomplished Bharatanatyam artiste, gave a brief outline of the influence of Indian culture on Russia, followed by a performance on the value of true friendship derived from India’s ancient fables - The Panchatantra tales.

Aman Nair, Junior Research Fellow at CSP, made a presentation on the research conducted by CSP which looked into the growth in popularity of Yoga in Russia