CULTURAL INTERACTION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND INDIA: HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE AND CURRENT STATE

Anand Purnima; Bychkova Olga I.; Gutsalov Alexander A.

АНАНД Пурнима

магистр в области английского языка, Президент Международной Федерации индийско-российских молодежных клубов при Российском центре науки и культуры, Президент Международного форума стран БРИКС, Нью-Дели, Республика Индия Purnima ANAND М.А. (English),

President, International Federation of Indian-Russian Youth Clubs at the

Russian Center for Science and Culture, President, International Forum of BRICS Countries, New Delhi, Republic of India, purnimaanearth@yahoo.co.in

БЫЧКОВА Ольга Ивановна

кандидат экономических наук, доцент, руководитель отдела комплексных проблем изучения культуры Южного филиала Российского научно-исследовательского института культурного и природного наследия

имени Д. С. Лихачева, Краснодар, Российская Федерация Olga I. BYCHKOVA

Cand. Sci. (Economy and Management of National Economy),

Assoc. Prof., Southern Branch, Likhachev Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage, Krasnodar, Russian Federation, bychkovaoi@mail.ru ORCID: 0000-0001-7579-2522

ГУЦАЛОВ Александр Анатольевич

кандидат философских наук, ведущий научный сотрудник отдела изучения культурного наследия и экспертной деятельности Южного филиала Российского научно-исследовательского института культурного и природного наследия имени Д. С. Лихачева, Краснодар, Российская Федерация Alexander A. GUTSALOV Cand. Sci. (History of Philosophy), Southern Branch, Likhachev Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage, Krasnodar, Russian Federation, gutsalov_alex@mail.ru ORCID: 0000-0001-7986-3543

УДК 341.232.7(540+470+571) "311/312" DOI: 10.36343/SB.2021.25.1.001

ГРНТИ 13.17.00 ВАК 24.00.01

Cultural Interaction between Russia and India: Historical Experience and Current State1

Культурное взаимодействие России и Индии: исторический опыт и современное состояние2

|2

На высшем уровне межгосударственных отношений культурные связи России и Индии рассматриваются не только как одно из стратегических направлений сотрудничества, но и как его основа, проявляющаяся во взаимном осознании общности фундаментальных ценностей народов двух стран. Для культурной политики государств характерны сходные задачи: сохранение культурного наследия, национальной культуры и языка в условиях культурной интеграции и глобализации, защита культурных ценностей, поиск эффективных форм взаимодействия в сфере культуры. Свидетельством устойчивости, эффективности и востребованности такого формата взаимодействия даже в условиях неблагоприятной политической конъюнктуры является его временная преемственность, представленная в данной работе в контексте исторического опыта формирования культурных связей между Россией и Индией в разные периоды, начиная с XV в. Цель написания статьи - типологизация этого опыта вплоть до настоящего времени. В центре теоретического внимания оказались такие предметные области, как межгосударственное культурное сотрудничество, культурные обмены, культурная дипломатия. Источниками при этом явились российские и индийские официальные документы, результаты научных исследований. Впервые на примере российско-индийских отношений были обобщены представления о механизмах международного культурного сотрудничества, практиках культурных обменов и культурной дипломатии, взаимодействии национальных культур. Значимость изучения рассматриваемой проблемы усиливается своей органичной связью с перспективами повышения статуса национальных культур, расширения возможностей их включения в контекст мировой культуры и с перспективами общественного развития в целом. Анализ документов, научных работ, посвященных межгосударственным отношениям России и Индии позволяет сделать вывод, что именно культурная сфера с ее устойчивыми смысловыми кодами лежит в основе российско-индийских политических и экономических отношений. Результаты изучения культурного взаимодействия могут использоваться в совершенствовании научно-методического обеспечения деятельности государственных органов по обмену культурными ценностями, для дальнейшего изучения взаимодействия культур, в деятельности организаций, учреждений, ведомств, дипломатических служб, занимающихся вопросами межгосударственного культурного сотрудничества, разработки научно-обоснованных программ обмена культурными ценностями и их использования в деятельности учреждений культуры разных стран.

Ключевые слова: Индия, Россия, Культурный центр им. Дж. Неру, Центр российской науки и культуры, Россотрудничество, Индийский Совет по культурным отношениям, культурный обмен, культурная дипломатия, международное культурное сотрудничество, стратегическое партнерство.

1 Статья подготовлена в рамках выполнения государственного задания Южного филиала ФГБНИУ «Российский научно-исследовательский институт культурного и природного наследия имени Д. С. Лихачева» по теме «Региональная культура и культурная политика: стратегии развития и опыт позитивных практик Юга России».

2 This article was prepared as part of the state assignment by the Southern Branch of the Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage, research theme "Regional Culture and Cultural Policy: development strategies and experience of positive practices in the South of Russia".

International Cultural Cooperation between Russia and India: A Historical Excursion. The fundamental principles of International Cultural Cooperation are enshrined in the relevant UN Declaration adopted in Paris in 1966 [47]. The basic documents for building international cooperation in the field of science, culture and education have been adopted in almost all state subjects of international law, including India and Russia. As a follow-up to these documents in 2008, Russia adopted the Main Directions of the Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of International Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation [37]. In India, the document regulating the conclusion of international treaties and agreements, including in the field of international cultural cooperation, is the Guidelines/SoP on the Conclusion of International Treaties in India [32].

The topic of international cultural cooperation has been raised in research works by P. Chacko, S. Ganguly, R. Guha, A. Kapur, S. Kon-wer, S. Mansingh, S. Singh, S. N. Pavlov, A. A. Alex-androv, K. Z. Hakobyan, V. I. Tolstykh, A. S. Kapto, A. S. Skachkov, T. V. Bogoyarkov, and others.

Indian-Russian relations, including from a cultural perspective, have been the focus of research attention of a number of Indian and Russian scholars: P. L. Dash [5], [6], [7]; A. Sengupta, M. Bakhadirov, A.Nazarkin [8], [9]; R.S.Kumar, A. Mokhanthi [34], B.N.Kuzyk, T.L.Shaumyan [25]; E. Yu. Petrova [35]; O.G.Ultsiferov [46]; T. N. Zagorodnikova [52]; E. P. Chelyshev, D. P. Chel-yshev, I. P. Chelysheva, and others.

Studying the history of cultural relations between India and Russia, it should be noted that these countries are not just large national communities, they are cultural and historical civilizations. Their religious, cultural and spiritual heritage embodies the principles of peace, coexistence and pluralism, and demonstrates a steady adherence to the concept of a multipolar world.

The evidence of the first Russian traveler in India dates back to the 15 th century. The Russian merchant Athanasius Nikitin was one of the first Europeans (after the Venetian Niccolo de Conti, 1419-1420, and in the 1430s to 1435) to travel to India (1468-1472) and document his visit. He described his journey in a narrative known as A Journey beyond the Three Seas.

Attempts to develop trade and establish political ties with India were made repeatedly and further in the 17th and 18th centuries. This stage can be called the first one in the history of the formation of relations between Russia and India; however, this path was thorny. For example, the embassies sent from Russia to the court of the ruler of India, Shah Jahan, in 1646 and 1651 were never able to reach India; the embassy under the leadership of Muhammad Yusuf Qasimov, who arrived in Delhi in 1675, was not allowed to reach the ruler of Aurangzeb because of the great uprising of Afghan tribes and the decision to close the border in the northwest. The following embassy, under the leadership of the merchant Semyon Maly, managed to get an audience with Aurangzeb in 1696, which resulted in a decision on duty-free trade. The book Russian-Indian Relations in the 17th Century presents 260 documents that indicate a fairly active Russian-Indian trade and embassy communication of the 17th century (from 1615 to 1716) [26]. The embassy order on relations between Russia and India of 1695 said: "In the letter of the great sovereign to the Indian Shah Jahan, it is written that he, the great sovereign, His Royal Majesty, wishes to be in strong fraternal friendship and love with his Majesty Shah Jahan of the Indians from this time and on without any interruption, and that this pleases him in the Moscow state, and he would like the shah to inform the ambassadors or envoys about this and agree on everything with them, and the great sovereign will be grateful for this"1 [51].

Excerpts from the Astrakhan customs, petitions of merchants, letters of governors, the tsar and the shah, orders from the Prikaz, speeches of the embassy, memoirs from the Ambassadorial Prikaz, tales (reports), and other documents of that time show intensive Russian-Indian trade contacts [26]. The plan of an armed campaign to India for its liberation from the power of the British, conceived at the end of the 18th century, but

1 In Russian: «В грамоте великого государя с ними

к индейскому шаху Джагану писано, что желает он, великий государь его царское величество, с его шах-Джагановым величеством индейским с сего времяни быти в крепкой братцкой дружбе и любви и в любитель-ной ссылке без урыву, и что ему в Московском государстве годно, и ему б, шаху, о том обослаться послы или посланники и о всем с ними отписати, а великий государь за то не постоит» [51].

never implemented by Emperor Paul I because of his death, is also known. This period of time with attempts to establish official relations and conclude international treaties can be called the second stage in the development of Russian-Indian cooperation [45].

Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev (1749-1817) conducted innovative work in the field of Indology and contributed to the establishment of close cultural contacts between India and Russia. Living in India from 1785 to 1797, he became a real catalyst for the study of Indian culture and customs in Russia and the religions common in India. He opened a printing house, first in Russia and Europe to use machines with the Bengali alphabet. He was also first in creating the national drama theater of Bengal on the European model. He is also considered a pioneer of Bengali drama. These facts are often mentioned in the speeches of the leaders of India.

At the same time, Russian researchers began to show an increased interest in Sanskritology and linguistics, and Indians had the opportunity to learn about European drama and theater. In 1788, A. A. Petrov translated the famous part of the Ma-habharata epic "Bhagavad Gita" into Russian, and N. I. Novikov published it. This happened a year after its French translation by the abbot J. P. Par-raud was published in Paris. The translation into French, in turn, was made from the English translation by C. Wilkins, published in 1785.

In 1792, excerpts from the classical drama Abhijnanashakuntala by Kalidasa, the great Indian playwright and poet of the 4th and 5th centuries, which are a free presentation of one of the episodes of the Mahabharata, were translated into Russian and published by N. M. Karamzin. Prior to it, J. G. A. Forster made a German translation (1791) on the basis of the English translation by J. Johnson (1789). At that time, the Indian theme was becoming very popular in Russia. By the middle of the 19th century, literary arrangements based on the Mahabharata were published ("Nal and Damayanti" by V.Zhukovsky (1837-1841), "Sund and Upasund" by N. Berg (1851)). Moscow and St. Petersburg Universities opened Departments of Sanskrit in 1851and 1855, respectively.

The first War of Independence in India (1857) aroused deep sympathy among the Russians. Russian artists, in their canvases, reflected the difficulties the Indian people were faced with.

For instance, Vasily Vereshchagin depicts the sadness of this event in the painting The Suppression of the Indian Uprising by the British (1884) (it is also called Blowing from Guns in British India, the fate of this canvas after 1891 is unknown). The common interests of the authors and artists of Russia and India, the countries on the path of the national liberation movement, became a source of strength for each other. The actual cultural contacts, translation activities, and academic study of Indian culture in Russia at that time can be defined as the third stage of Russian-Indian relations.

An event in the history of relations between the two countries was the opening of the Russian Imperial Consulate General in Bombay in December 19001. The Russian leadership nourished the very idea of opening an embassy in this British colony for a long time. Official correspondence with the United Kingdom on this subject began in 1858 after the conclusion of a trade treaty between Russia and Great Britain in 1856. The period of official relations between the imperial Russia and the British India (1858-1920), with the increasing role of the cultural component in them, is the fourth stage in the development of Russian-Indian cooperation.

The names of Maxim Gorky, Leo Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov became popular among the Indian intelligentsia. The correspondence between Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi served as an important link in the crystallization of cultural processes between the countries. The poetry of the first non-European Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore was also of great interest in pre-revolu-tionary Russia. In 1915, a 10-volume collection of his works was published in Moscow [41]. Its first volume presents the poetic collection Gitanjali (edited by Yu. Baltrushaitis), for which the author received the Prize. By 1918, four separate reprints of the collection were published in Moscow [42].

The mutual desire for cooperation between the peoples of India and Russia became more pronounced after the October Revolution of 1917. The visits to the USSR of Jawaharlal Nehru, the future first Prime Minister of independent India,

The Russian Imperial Consulate General was located in Calcutta since 1911, was greatly reduced in 1917 and closed in 1920. The Soviet Consulate in Calcutta was opened only in 1956 and transformed into a Consulate General in 1957 — Authors' note.

in 19271, and of the Bengali poets Rabindranath Tagore and Amiya Chandra Chakravarty in 1930 were important milestones in the development of Indian-Soviet cultural relations. Nehru, impressed by the experience of building a just socialist society, reasonably considered the USSR as a strategically important partner of the free India. Tagore, in his Letters from Russia [44], talked about life in the Soviet Union, about the aspirations of its people, their joys and sorrows. He admired their seriousness and care, their efforts to eradicate illiteracy, and their commitment to achieving lofty goals. The letters were written in the USSR in the period from 20 September to 28 October 1930.

In Russia, Tagore was called the Indian Leo Tolstoy (in 1923, the Krasnaya Niva magazine even published an article by A. V. Lunacharsky under the title "The Indian Tolstoy" [27]; in 1926, the Soviet government decided to publish Tago-re's collected works). The Russian translation of Tagore's words became widely known: "I would not consider the goal of my life fully achieved if I had not come here [to Russia]" [43, p. 16]. Academician S. F. Oldenburg eloquently expressed this attitude: "And when we meet a great Hindu poet, we will meet a man who in Bengali words said what we all understand and feel" [16]. In 1939, at the initiative of AcademicianA. P. Baran-nikov, the founder of the school of modern Indian languages in the USSR, work was started on a full academic Russian translation of the Mahabharata; the first translator was V. I. Kalyanov. Barannikov also became a pioneer in the formulation and development of reseach issues of New Indian literary studies and linguistics in the 1920s, and in the 1930s. For the first time, he organized the study of a number of New Indian languages in the USSR (Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, and Urdu). This stage of cooperation without the official establishment of relations between the USSR and British India is an important milestone in interstate relations with a clearly expressed cultural dominant in them.

Since the liberation of the Indians from colonial rule in August 1947, relations between the Soviet Union and the independent democratic India became closer, as they were based on mutual

Nehru visited the USSR again in 1955 as the Prime Minister of the Republic of India — Authors' note.

respect and equality. This is evidenced by the fact that diplomatic relations between them were officially established on 13 April 1947, four months before India's declaration of independence (15 August 1947). The first Minister of Education, Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed (18881958), established the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), whose role was to develop and implement programs for external cultural interaction, develop cultural exchanges and relations with other countries.

Extensive educational contacts between the USSR and India were established in accordance with the Agreement Concerning Cultural, Scientific and Technological Co-Operation of 1960 [12]. In 1971, a bilateral Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was signed [17]. These documents have become the normative and legal basis for the full development of interstate cooperation, including in the field of culture.

In 1965, a representative office of the Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (SSOD) was opened in Delhi2. This intensified cross-cultural interaction and opened the way for a large number of Indian students to receive an education in the USSR. Currently, its successor — the Rossotrudnichestvo mission — has five centers (in New Delhi, Chen-nai, Mumbai, Calcutta and Trivandrum), being the largest representation of this organization among Russian missions in other countries. The Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center at the Indian Embassy in Moscow was opened in March 1989. Despite the fact that, in the following years, the Consulates General of India were opened in Vladivostok (9 September 1992), in St.Petersburg (15 February 1993), India is represented by only one cultural center in Russia (from 1989 to the present).

Since the establishment of official relations between the USSR and the first British and then

The SSOD was founded in 1958 on the basis of the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, which was formed in 1925. The Russian Agency for International Cooperation and Development was established on the basis of the Union in 1992. In 1994, on the basis of the Aqgency, the Russian Center for International Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (Roszarubezhtsentr) was formed, which, in turn, was transformed into the current Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) — Authors' note.

independent India, a new chapter in the development of relations between the countries began. S. I. Lunev divides the history of the relations after India's independence and to the present day into eight stages: 1) 1947-1955; 2) 1955-1971; 3) 1971-1979; 4) 1979-1988; 5) 1988-1991; 6) 1991-1996; 7) 1996-2000; 8) since 2000 [28, p. 25].

According to Lunev's approach, a period of significant warming was observed since 1955, after the exchange of state visits by Jawaharlal Nehru to the USSR and Nikita Khrushchev to India, reaching the peak of its development in the 1970s. Of course, taking into account the current realities, this gradation should be supplemented.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the treaty framework was revised and updated. Since 1991, more than 250 new bilateral agreements have been concluded. The basic document for interstate relations was the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India, signed on 28 January 1993 [19], as well as the Declaration on the Further Development and Strengthening of Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India of 30 June 1994. An important document for the development of scientific and cultural relations between the countries was signed in 1993. An agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of India on Cultural and Scientific Cooperation [18] replacing the previous Agreement on Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Republic of India was signed on 12 February 1960) [12].

Despite active efforts to streamline the legislative framework, the 1990s were characterized by a cooling of interstate relations between Russia and India. Anuradha Chenoy, professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University of Delhi, believes that this was due to the desire of both countries at this time to reorient the center of their activity to establish "the friendliest relations with the sole superpower, the United States" [4, p. 435]. But still, "the natural preference in both countries to work for multipolarity in world politics helped in repairing the relationship" [4, p. 435]. Chenoy qualifies Russia as "a natural partner in India's past developments, current realities and future ambi-

tions" [4, p. 437]. However, the vector of preferences of the Indian official press and the elite, according to Chenoy, continues to lean towards the United States, and "long-term relations with Russia are backed by popular sentiment and political consensus in India, as long as it is perceived not to be hurting India's relations with the US" [3, p. 59].

Similar processes took place in Russia in the 1990s. A striking change can be observed in the foreign policy strategy of the new Russia from 1992 to 2000. In 1992, in the Concept of Russian Foreign Policy, the defining emphasis in building relations with India was placed on "economic incentives", which is why relations with India's longtime enemy Pakistan and other countries were to be balanced and equalized on the basis of economic interests. Then, in the year 2000, the Russian National Security Doctrine declared a paradigm shift and a reorientation of the defining interest from the West to the Third-World countries, particularly India.

The concept of a multipolar world has played an important role in the significant rapprochement between Russia and India. Multipo-larity means recognizing not only the need for different centers of world politics, but, above all, for different cultural paradigms as having a decisive significance for different regions of the world, including those that do not imply economic interests as the main and fundamental factor in building the state's foreign policy activity. Chenoy believes: "Our argument is that a common political understanding is a basis for India-Russia relations" [8, p. 440]. We propose to deepen this position: this very common political vision is based on the historically rooted common cultural attitudes of the peoples of India and Russia, and it is these peoples who have gradually given their relations the status of the now declared "particularly privileged strategic partnership".

This was evidenced by a significant increase in the interest in India of Russian citizens, who flocked to different parts of the country with tourist flows, which obviously played an important role in changing the paradigm of interstate relations. The "cooling-off period" of official relations with India in the 1990s was another stage in building a new configuration of relations between the new Russia and the Republic of India; it is characterized by a simultaneous increase in the role of pub-

lic cultural diplomacy with an increased interest of Russian citizens in the study of Indian culture.

A new stage in relations between the countries, which has been developing steadily up to the present time, began in 2000. In the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (2000), the intention was stated "to deepen the traditional partnership with India" [21]. With the awareness of the danger of strengthening the tendencies to create a unipolar structure of the world under the economic and power dominance of the United States, the status of the cultural factor in foreign policy activities has significantly increased. This was manifested in the fact that, on the eve of the adoption of the Concept of Foreign Policy (2000), the "Foreign Cultural Policy of Russia — The Year 2000" theses were published in the Russian Dip-lomaticJournal. For the first time in the history of the new Russia, the theses presented an official analysis of international cultural relations in the light of interstate relations [10]. They emphasized the special role of culture in the implementation of Russia's foreign policy strategy.

In 2000, during the state visit of Russia's President Vladimir Putin to Delhi, a Declaration on Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India was signed [20]. In 2008, the parties adopted a Joint Declaration [22], which expressed the need to expand bilateral cooperation between the countries in all branches of government. In 2009, the adopted interstate document announced the achievement of the level of strategic partnership and the need to deepen and intensify it [23]. During the state visit of Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, relations between Russia and India were brought to a new level of "particularly privileged strategic partnership". In fact, Russia and India, according to Alexander Kadakin, the then Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to the Republic of India, were "pioneers in introducing the concept of strategic partnership into the international legal field" [15]. Since the Declaration of 2000, relations between the two countries have become "deeply confidential". In this regard, it was announced the countries had a "truly privileged strategic partnership". This term can also "supplement the international diplomatic lexicon" [36]. The introduction of these new terms in the diplomatic lexicon (declarative statement on

strategic partnership (2000), achievement (2009) and bringing it to the "privileged" (2010) and the "truly privileged" (2019) level) fixes new stages in the development of interstate relations between Russia and India.

Over the past 20 years, 20 Russian-Indian summits have been held. During the last summit in Vladivostok (September 2019), a large statement, Reaching New Heights of Cooperation through Trust and Partnership, was adopted; it consists of 81 items. It emphasizes the "unique, trusting and mutually beneficial nature" of relations between the countries, which are based "on similar civilizational values, friendship, mutual understanding, trust, common interests, and proximity of approaches to fundamental issues of development and economic progress". The development of comprehensive relations between Russia and India, independent of external influence, is called the "foreign policy priority of the two countries". This statement again referred to the "particularly privileged nature" of the "strategic partnership" [24]. At the highest diplomatic level, this position is emphasized every time [11]. The intensity of official relations at the highest level is high. For example, in 2018, the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of India held five official meetings, in the year 2019 three official meetings. From 2014 to 2019, a total of 22 meetings were held.

Formation of the mechanism of cultural exchanges between Russia and India. At the highest level of interstate relations, cultural relations between the new Russia and India are considered not only as one of the strategic directions of cooperation, but also as its basis, manifested in the mutual awareness of the common fundamental values of the peoples of Russia and India. According to Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, relations between Russia and India "extend far beyond the last 70 years. They go deep into history and are not limited to contacts at the state level" [38].

Undoubtedly, these circumstances, together with regulatory and institutional activities, have intensified cross-cultural interaction between the countries. The main practice of its implementation is cultural exchanges. They promote the humanitarian cooperation of the states with their diverse cultural traditions. Cultural ties and the exchange of cultural values are factors in the humanization

of interstate interaction and the development of national cultures. In this regard, an important issue is the search for mechanisms and improvement of algorithms for their promotion.

Conceptual approaches in the works of international cultural exchange researchers (F. Boas, D. J. Smith, G. Vico, J. G. Herder, Grebner, N. Ya. Danilevsky, R. J. McGee, G. Morgan, C. Levi-Strauss, F. Ratzel, P. Sorokin, A. J. Toynbee, E. B. Ty-lor, L. Frobenius, W. H. Homes, O. Spengler) have been reviewed. This contributed to the identification of interdisciplinary and comparative approaches as a methodological basis for a comparative analysis of concepts. The study of the anthropological, social, cultural and economic theories of exchange allows us to conclude that the basic principle of the functioning of human society — the idea of reciprocity — is at the heart of the issues of cultural exchange. The modeling of the mechanism of cultural exchange takes place within the framework of the type of exchange that dominates in society at a certain stage of its development and determines the algorithm for its promotion in the format of local cultures.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing degree of tension in international relations, it is urgent to search for tools that ensure mutual respect and mutual understanding of people from different cultures. Therefore, the analysis of modern forms of international cultural exchange development is of particular importance today. There is no doubt that the existing theoretical discussions in this area determine the need to strengthen research and serious discussion on the theoretical foundations of cultural exchange in various practical aspects.

A. M. Khodkaev introduced the concept "cultural exchange" into academic discourse and explained it through the comprehension of the category of continuity. For a broader consideration of the concept of cultural exchange, the interrelationship of the categories of succession and inheritance is taken into account, since the inheritance and exchange of cultural values are strongly connected with the manifestation of continuity. This is not only a critical identification of positive aspects in the culture of the past, but also a kind of a transfer of these aspects to the attitude to national cultural values created and exchanged in modern conditions. Many authors understand

cultural exchange as the interaction of different cultures, on the one hand, and as their impact on each other, on the other. M. M. Bakhtin, T. P. Grig-orieva, N. I. Konrad, analyzing examples of different types of interaction of cultures, designated dialogue as a specific type of cultural interaction, which is the fundamental basis for the implementation of cultural exchanges. In the existing conceptual framework, cultural exchange is freely replaced by the terms "cultural communication", "cultural relations", "cultural cooperation", "cultural dialogue". Works in the field of science and journalism are periodically dedicated to the topic of modern intercultural Russian-Indian interaction (see, for instance, [2, pp. 318-330]).

In our work, we consider the cultural exchange between India and Russia as a historical and cultural pattern, built on cultural interaction within the sociocultural context of the state cultural policy, which affects the formation of a dialogue of cultures and the development of international cultural cooperation.

The coordinator of bilateral relations in the humanitarian sphere is the Working Group on Culture and Tourism of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, whose meetings are regularly held alternately in Russia and India. The direct guides and performers are the Centers of Russian Science and Culture in India at the Embassy and Consulates General of Russia in India and the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Indian Culture at the Embassy of India in Russia. As already mentioned, the first representative office of the SSOD (now Rossotrudnichestvo) was opened in New Delhi (1965) at the peak of the development of Soviet-Indian friendship. The opening of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center at the Embassy of India in Russia (Moscow) (Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center, JNCC, 1989) followed the "phenomenal success" of the 1988 festival of India in the USSR [48]. In India and Russia, five Rossotrudnichestvo missions in India and one representative office of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Moscow are engaged in bilateral cultural exchanges. In Trivandrum and at each Russian Consulate General (in Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai), there are missions of Ros-sotrudnichestvo. There are no missions of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) under

the Consulates General of India in Vladivostok (founded on 9 September 1992) and St.Peters-burg (opened on 15 February 1993). The cultural advisers of the Embassies of Russia and India are responsible for fundamental and political issues in the field of cultural interaction, and the Russian and Indian cultural centers are engaged in their practical implementation, focusing on the implementation of programs and projects adopted, as a rule, on a bilateral basis.

During the joint celebration of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and India (2012), both sides supported the continuation of the annual mutual cultural festivals alternately in India and in Russia. At the interstate level, cultural exchange programs are adopted (usually for two to three years). They are the formal basis for the development of circus, theater, ballet, exhibition, cinema, vocal, choreographic, museum, library and archive exchanges. In recent years, such programs were adopted for 2010-2012 [29], 20132015 [30], and 2017-2019 [31], [33].

These programs provide regular cultural exchanges between Russia and India. Although the coronovirus pandemic has made adjustments to the interaction between the countries, already in September 2020, the plans for cultural cooperation for 2021 were discussed at the ministerial level. The main projects are expected to be implemented in the field of library, museum, cultural education; various creative contacts are also expected to be resumed after the pandemic.

Russian-Indian cultural cooperation covers a wide range of areas: cultural exchanges are carried out by music, dance, and theater groups; film festivals are organized; art and photo exhibitions, various thematic seminars and conferences are held. For example, from 30 November 2020 to 28 February 2021, the National Museum of India hosted an exhibition dedicated to the Buddhist art of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, in which the State Museum of Oriental Art participated from the Russian side.

Student exchange programs allow one to receive education in Russian and Indian universities. Currently, more than 15 thousand Indian students study at various universities in Russia [49]. In recent years, school and youth exchanges have begun to be practiced. Their success

shows the relevance and significance of this form of interaction.

"Cultural Diplomacy" in Russian-Indian relations. The researchers emphasize that cultural diplomacy in modern relations between Russia and India is becoming increasingly important. It is reasonable to consider culture as an essential factor of international politics and the "soft power" of states that seek to play an important role in international relations. E. V. Vasilenko identifies the following factors that shape the cultural diplomacy of any state: foreign policy priorities, a positive state image, the spread of the state language of the country in the world. The instruments of cultural diplomacy include: theater, cinema, music, dance, painting, sculpture, international exhibitions, educational programs, academic and scientific exchange programs, language programs abroad, the creation of libraries abroad, the translation of national works into foreign languages, the broadcasting of news and cultural programs abroad, religious diplomacy, including initiatives of interreligious dialogue [50].

Strengthening the role of cultural diplomacy sets a proper rhythm for relations through the annual Days of Russian and Indian Culture, the Years of Russia in India and India in Russia, the Days of Russian and Indian Cinema, the announcement of the Year of Tourism (2018), the expansion of regional contacts (the Days of Moscow in New Delhi in 2012 and 2019, the Days of Mumbai in St. Petersburg in 2017, the Days of India in Siberia in 2017, the annual Indian Festival in Moscow, the Days of Indian Culture in Astrakhan Oblast, etc.). Vainakh (the Chechen state dance ensemble), the Moscow Musical Theater with its production Reverse, and the New Life Brass Band named after T.Dokshitser made performances for the Indian audience. Young representatives of the public, political, business and scientific circles of India also visit Russia as part of the programs of short-term study trips (New Generation) and educational trips to historical places (Hello, Russia!).

Over the past few years, the need for Russian as a foreign language has increased enormously. The capabilities of Russian intermediary organizations are clearly insufficient. Therefore, the corresponding departments and centers have been opened in Indian universities. Russian is taught in more than 30 universities and 16 schools, as well

as in various language centers and at numerous special courses [1]. For example, the School of International Studies, the Centre of Russian Studies, the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi) offer courses in the Russian language and literature and carry out educational and research work. In addition, more than two dozen Indian universities have requested cooperation with Russian universities and the provision of Russian teachers of the Russian language. Indian regional languages are taught in Russia at the departments of Indology in 20 Russian universities, which is not enough given the special status of interstate relations declared at the highest official level. There are also not enough courses on the mutual study of modern India and Russia.

From year to year, the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo organizes performances of creative vocal, choreographic, musical, and theater groups within the framework of various festivals, as well as programs to celebrate the Days of Russia, Slavic Writing and Culture, etc. In the year of Russian Cinema in India (2016), an annual series of events was held in all Russian centers of science and culture, including film screenings, a children's film festival, thematic seminars, meetings, and a five-day Russian film festival.

The creation of the film club India in Moscow (2013) with the support of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center at the Embassy of India in Russia opened a new chapter in the progressive strengthening of the Indo-Russian cultural community. This club was opened at the Museum of Cinema in Moscow with the aim of promoting Indian feature films, starting from the first years of the history of film production in the independent India. At one time, Satyajit Ray (1921-1992), the largest film director of Bengali origin, the first winner of the prestigious Academy Award for outstanding services to cinema from India (1992), opened a film club in Calcutta, named after the great Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein, to promote Soviet films. However, it is still worth noting that the imbalance in the representation and popularity of Russian (and Soviet) cinema in India and Indian in Russia is clearly not in favor of the former.

In the book world, there is a growing interest in Indian literature, especially after the Mos-

cow International Book Fair in 2006, at which India was presented as the "guest of honor". In India, books in Russian have recently been published.

The Indian government plans to intensify cooperation in the field of culture through Buddhist centers of learning and philosophy, Ayurveda, yoga, Indian cuisine, choreographic schools, cinema, support for Indological research in Russia, and the continuation of the Ganga-Volga civilizational dialogue (held in Delhi in January 2020).

Numerous groups of Russian citizens from different regions of Russia visit almost all regions of India for acquaintance with and research on history and culture. They meet with ordinary people, spiritual gurus, artists, enjoy Indian food and hospitality outside of any diplomatic ties, which strengthens the interpersonal relations of citizens. On 17 February 2021, at a meeting with the staff and students of the Russian Diplomatic Academy, Harsha Vardhan Sringla, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, said: "Perhaps the most important bonds of friendship, however, are the people-to-people contacts between our two countries. The strong political will to have closer relations is equally matched by a strong public sentiment in both countries" [49].

In the past decade, a lot of well-known contemporary Russian writers (Eduard Uspensky, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Maria Arbatova) visited India and participated in various programs. Maria Ar-batova published her book Tasting India (2006), in which she shared her fresh cultural impressions of visiting India and which found a wide audience of readers and became a bestseller in Russia.

Russian and Indian public organizations and federations with their educational and cultural programs are an excellent tool for the development of Russian-Indian relations. The International Federation of Indian-Russian Youth Clubs (President Purnima Anand), the International Association of Children's Foundations (Chair-manA.A.Likhanov), Nehru Bal Samiti (Director Shri S. P. Govil), and other organizations have been doing great work for decades.

In addition, certain groups of people are active in establishing intercultural interaction. With the support of Indian and Russian cultural centers and diplomatic structures, they organize perfor-

Fig. 1. Members of the Cossack creative group "Stanitsa" at the N. Roerich House-Museum in Naggar Kullu

(Himachal Pradesh, India, 2014)

mances of various creative groups from Russian regions in India and Indian ones in Russia. Thanks to this activity, in 2011 and 2013, leading Indian scholars and artists came to Krasnodar State University of Culture and Arts (now Krasnodar State Institute of Culture) to participate in cultural programs and academic conferences. With choreographic and vocal programs, the Cossack creative groups Stanitsa (Fig. 1) and Slavitsa from Krasnodar visited India three times, performing even in the Himalayan foothills in Kullu and Naggar, as well as in New Delhi and Mumbai. Once, at the end of the 18th century, Cossack military units could not reach India. For the first time, the Cossacks reached India with cultural programs. We see this as a special symbolism: culture is sometimes even a more stable tool and a powerful force than political and military resources. The result of these cultural landings was the appearance of Cossack groups and Indian dances in the choreographic repertoire.

In this regard, we can also give an example related to the activities of the Moscow theater group Author's Creative Association (ATO, directed by Yu.S.Mekhtieva). In 2015, the group presented its cultural and educational program — The Sun from India! The program included participation in the 23rd India Theater Olympiad (Cuttack, Orissa, 2015) (Fig. 2), a performance at the Rossotrudnichestvo mission in New Delhi, a master class and a creative workshop at Satyug Darshan Vidyalaya, the largest college in northern India (Faridabad, Haryana, India). After that, the ATO launched the first joint Russian-Indian theater project More than a Dream together with the South Indian team of Theater Combines (directed by Jafindas Savidas, Trivandrum, Kerala, India) with the organizational support of the International Federation of Youth Clubs of Russia and India (New Delhi, India), the Centers of Russian Science and Culture (New Delhi and Trivandrum, India), the Russian

Fig. 2. Moscow Theater Group Author's Creative Association at the 23rd India Theater Olympiad

(Cuttack, Orissa, 2015)

Embassy in the Republic of India, the Southern Branch of the Russian Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage (Krasnodar, Russia). Unfortunately, due to the premature death of the Moscow director Yu.S.Mekhtieva (2020), this idea was not implemented, although it was already planned to show the play on the theater stages of India and Russia.

Further, such projects can become a new stage of cultural and educational cooperation between the two countries, put into practice the idea of the unity of friendly peoples, and serve as a basis for the development of programs for creative interaction between the peoples of India and Russia. F. A. Rozovsky, head of the Rossotrudnich-estvo Mission in India, sees the development of joint cultural projects as an opportunity to further develop cross-cultural interaction between Russia and India, including the organization of joint folk music concerts, the issuance of joint postage stamps, presidential exchange programs for youth delegations within the framework of the New Generation project, international festivals in India and Russia, etc. [1].

The India-Russia cultural diplomacy is people-centric. The roots of cultural diplomacy

firmly embedded in eternal values. Thus, its sustenance and strength is more lasting and it is vested with people's power. It is a laudatory goal that needs to be pursued with all humility, selflessness and empathy.

Indians and Russians feel that they are endowed with common spiritual and cultural values that could help in promoting civilization dialogue among peoples and nations to connect with one another in the true sprite of friendship and brotherhood. Cultural diplomacy becomes a force for civilization dialogue in the 21st century to spread its core message of love, peace and compassion.

Cultural diplomacy is not about crossing boundaries, it is about crossing barriers that have been created in our minds that stand partitioned. Cultural diplomacy is about openness, it is like wind that blows fearlessly in many directions.

iНе можете найти то, что вам нужно? Попробуйте сервис подбора литературы.

Conclusion. Cultural cooperation between Russia and India is based on the commonality of their interests. The cultural policy of the states is characterized by similar tasks: the preservation of cultural heritage, national culture and language in the context of cultural integration and globalization, the protection of cultural values, the search

MEffiflyhflPOflhblE IWflbTyPhblE CBA3M B COBPEAEHHOA AMPE

for effective forms of cultural interaction. The evidence of the stability, effectiveness and relevance of this format of interaction, even in an unfavorable political environment, is its temporal continuity, presented in this article.

The conducted research allows us to typolo-gize the historical aspects of intercultural interaction between Russia and India by identifying the following stages in their development:

1) beginning and development of trade relations (15th-17th centuries);

2) attempts to establish official political relations through the opening of embassies and the conclusion of interstate treaties (17th century);

3) increase of cultural and academic interest (visits to India by artists, scientists, development of Indological research, translation and publication activities) in the 18th-19th centuries;

4) establishment of official political relations, opening of the Consulate General of the Imperial Russia in the British India, which led to a significant increase in the mutual interest in the cultures of the peoples of Russia and India (1900-1920);

5) development of cultural contacts between the Soviet Union and the British India with the formation of the Indological School of the USSR (1920-1947);

6) official relations between the USSR and India (1947-1991); this stage can be divided into several sub-stages: formation of official relations with a minimum of cultural contacts (19471955); activation of cultural contacts after visits to the USSR and India by Jawaharlal Nehru and Nikita Khrushchev (1955-1965); development of systematic full-fledged cultural cooperation through the opening of the mission of the SSOD in New Delhi (1965) and the mission of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Moscow (1989) (1965-1991);

7) period of cooling and regulatory settling of interstate relations between Russia and India (1991-1999);

8) formation of the strategic partnership (2000-2010);

9) active particularly privileged strategic partnership (2010-present).

The recent stages of the development of intercultural relations are caused by the steady and systematic rapprochement of the countries within a number of interstate associations, such as BRICS, SCO, etc.; a more active use of the resources of cultural exchanges, cultural diplomacy; and joint cultural interaction. The established forms of cultural cooperation should be involved in building relations between the countries. Cultural ties at the official level should be combined with the states' active promotion of intercultural communication at the interpersonal level, supporting the development of cultural diplomacy.

The analysis of documents, research works, the level of interstate relations between Russia and India, the quality of intercultural communication allows us to conclude that it is the cultural sphere with its stable semantic codes that underlies Russian-Indian political and economic relations, making them stable, strong and dynamically developing, despite periods of recession and crises. The results of the study of the development of intercultural interaction can be used in improving the academic and methodological support for the activities of state bodies for the exchange of cultural values, for further studies of the interaction of cultures, in the activities of organizations, institutions, departments, diplomatic services dealing with interstate cultural cooperation, the development of research-based programs for the exchange of cultural values and their use in the activities of cultural institutions in different countries.

Purnima ANAND M.A. (English),

President, International Federation of Indian-Russian Youth Clubs at the Russian Center for Science and Culture, President, International Forum of BRICS Countries, New Delhi, Republic of India, purnimaanearth@yahoo.co.in

Olga I. BYCHKOVA

Cand. Sci. (Economy and Management of National Economy),

Assoc. Prof., Southern Branch, Likhachev Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage, Krasnodar, Russian Federation, bychkovaoi@mail.ru ORCID: 0000-0001-7579-2522

Alexander A. GUTSALOV

Cand. Sci. (History of Philosophy), Leading Researcher, Southern Branch, Likhachev Russian Research Institute for Cultural and Natural Heritage, Krasnodar, Russian Federation, gutsalov_alex@mail.ru ORCID: 0000-0001-7986-3543

Cultural Interaction between Russia and India: Historical Experience and Current State

Abstract. At the highest level of interstate relations, cultural relations between Russia and India are considered not only as one of the strategic areas of cooperation, but also as its basis, which is manifested in the mutual awareness of the common fundamental values of the peoples of Russia and India. The cultural policy of the two states is characterized by similar tasks: the preservation of cultural heritage, national culture and language in the context of cultural integration and globalization, the protection of cultural values, and the search for effective forms of cultural interaction. The evidence of the stability, effectiveness and relevance of this format of interaction, even in an unfavorable political environment, is its temporal continuity, presented in this work in the context of the historical experience of the formation of cultural ties between Russia and India in different periods of time, starting from the 15 th century. The aim of this article is to typologize this experience up to the present time. The theoretical focus was on such subject areas as interstate cultural cooperation, cultural exchanges, and cultural diplomacy. The sources were Russian and Indian official documents, as well as relevant research works. The authors used the ideographic (descriptive-narrative), comparative-historical, and retrospective methods, as well as the periodization method in the study. The novelty of the research consists in the generalization of ideas about the mechanisms of international cultural cooperation, the practices of cultural exchanges and cultural diplomacy, the interaction of national cultures on the example of Russian-Indian relations. The actual significance of studying this issue is enhanced by its organic connection with the prospects of improving the status of national cultures, expanding the possibilities of their inclusion in the context of world culture, and with the prospects of social development in general. The analysis of documents, research works, and the level of interstate relations between Russia and India allows us to conclude that it is the cultural sphere with its stable semantic codes that underlies Russian-Indian political and economic relations. The results of the study of the development of cultural interaction can be used for a further investigation of the interaction of cultures, in the activities of organizations, institutions, departments, diplomatic services dealing with interstate cultural cooperation, for the development of research-based programs for the exchange of cultural values and their use in the activities of cultural institutions in different countries.

Keywords: India, Russia, Nehru Indian Cultural Center, Center for Russian Science and Culture, Rossotrudnichestvo, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), cultural exchange, cultural diplomacy, international cultural cooperation, strategic partnership.

27 pflCflEflME 0EKOB

www.heritage-magazine.com 2021 № '

Использованная литература:

1. Belli, A. (2014) Cultural Ties Set to Grow between Russia and India in 2014. Russia Beyond. 04 July 2014. [Online] Available from: https://www.rbth.com/arts/2014/07/04/ cultural_ties_set_to_grow_between_russia_and_india_ in_2014_36435 (Accessed: 11.01.2021).

2. Bogolyubova, N.M. & Nikolaeva, Yu.V. (2008) Indiya vo vneshney kul'turnoy politike Rossii (Osnovnye napravleniya rossiysko-indiyskogo kul'turnogo i nauchnogo sotrudnichestva na sovremennom etape) [India in the Foreign Cultural Policy of Russia (The Main Directions of Russian-Indian Cultural and Scientific Cooperation at the Present Stage)]. Trudy Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta kul'tury. 180. pp. 318-330.

3. Chenoy, A.M. (2008) India and Russia: Allies in the International Political System. South Asian Survey. 15 (1). pp. 49-62.

4. Chenoy, A.M. (2010) India and Russia in the Changing International Setting. International Studies. 47(2-4). pp. 435-447. DOI: 10.1177/002088171104700423

5. Dash, P.L. (1988) Indira Gandhi and Soviet Union. New Delhi: Prachi Prakashan.

6. Dash, P.L. (1991) Dimensions of Perestroika (The Inceptive Phase) 1985-1988. Delhi: Ajanta Prakashan.

7. Dash, P.L. (1996) Russia: The Unclear Agenda. Cuttack: Arya Prakashan.

8. Dash, P.L. & Nazarkin, A.M. (eds) (2007) India and Russia: Strategic Synergy Emerging. New Delhi: Authorspress.

9. Dash, P.L. & Nazarkin, A.M. (eds) (2008) Indo-Russian Diplomatic Relations: Sixty Years of Enduring Legacy. Delhi: Academic Excellence Publishers.

10. Diplomaticheskiy Vestnik - Diplomatic Journal. (2000) Tezisy "Vneshnyaya kul'turnaya politika Rossii - god 2000" [Theses: Foreign Cultural Policy of Russia - Year 2000]. 4. pp. 74-86.

11. Diplomaticheskiy Vestnik - Diplomatic Journal. (2019) Vstupitel'noe slovo Ministra inostrannykh del Rossiyskoy Federatsii S. V. Lavrova v khode peregovorov s Ministrom inostrannykh del Indii S. Dzhayshankarom. Moskva. 28.08.2019 [Opening Remarks by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov during Negotiations with Minister of Foreign Affairs of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Moscow, 28 August 2019]. [Online] Available from: https://www.mid.ru/ezegodnik-diplomaticeskij-vestnik-za-2019-g. (Accessed: 02.02.2021)

12. Garant. (1960) Agreement Concerning Cultural, Scientific and Technological Co-Operation between the Republic of India and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (New Delhi, 12 February 1960). [Online] Available from: https://base.garant.ru/2567197/ (Accessed: 06.01.2021). (In Russian).

13. Garant. (1995) Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 12 February 1995, No. 22: On the Main Directions of Cultural Cooperation of the Russian Federation with Foreign Countries. [Online] Available from: http://base. garant.ru/1520067/?_utl_t=vk (Accessed: 02.02.2021).

14. Golovina, G.V. & Savina, I.A. (2014) International Cultural Cooperation: Aspects of Social, Cultural and Legal Regulation. Vestnik Adygeyskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 1: Regionovedenie: filosofiya, istoriya, sotsiologiya, yurisprudentsiya, politologiya, kul'turologiya -Bulletin of the Adyghe State University, Series "Region Studies:

References: