India-Russia ties rooted in centuries of people-to-people contacts: Russian diplomat

New Delhi: India-Russia ties cannot be changed by somebody else and have withstood the test of time despite an evolving global geopolitical environment, a Russian diplomat has asserted.

Russian Embassy Spokesperson Petr Sizov made these remarks during a Russian cultural event at the India Habitat Centre here on Monday evening.

"We are friends, and our friendship can't be, you know, changed by somebody else," Sizov said while speaking to PTI.


He said relations between the two countries were rooted not merely in decades of diplomatic engagement but in centuries of people-to-people contacts.

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Referring to the correspondence between Mahatma Gandhi and Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, Sizov said Gandhi regarded Tolstoy as a teacher and the two exchanged letters despite never meeting in person, citing it as an example of historical people-to-people links between the two countries.

Sizov also highlighted the longstanding popularity of Indian cinema in Russia and Russian ballet in India, saying cultural exchanges have remained an important part of bilateral relations.

He said Russia plans to organise a series of musical, artistic and other cultural events in India ahead of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

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Diana Alipova, the wife of Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov, underlined the importance of cultural diplomacy in taking bilateral relations beyond government-to-government engagement and building direct connections between people.

"Cultural relationship is important because culture goes to the public; you know, it's just like from one person to another person. It's not a governmental relationship, but it's a face-to-face relationship," she told PTI.

Alipova said Russia was making efforts to introduce younger Indians to its culture through live performances and was working closely with schools in Delhi to encourage greater participation in cultural programmes.

The event featured the Joint Choir of the Holy Trinity-St Sergius Lavra and the Moscow Theological Academy, which presented Russian sacred choral music and traditional folk songs as part of Russia Culture Days.

The programme was part of the ongoing cultural exchanges aimed at strengthening people-to-people contacts between India and Russia.