Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

PRIME MINISTER SHRI ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE'S SPEECH AT THE MEETING WITH INTELLECTUALS AT ST. PETERSBURG

The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is on a three-day visit to Russia, had a meeting with intellectuals at St. Petersburg today. Following is the text of the English rendering of the PM's Speech in Hindi :

~I am delighted to be in this great city of St. Petersburg.

Yours is a city of timeless beauty and inspiring history. A city immortalised by the poetry of Pushkin and the prose of Dostoyevsky. A city that aroused the most refined feelings and thoughts among its prodigious artists, architects, musicians and intellectuals. But yours is also a city that knew how to defend itself against the most savage form of fascist aggression.

The 900-day siege of your city during the Second World War will forever remain a stirring saga in the history of humanity’s resistance to inhumanity. Passage of time cannot dim the significance of the defeat of fascism. ~Nothing is forgotten; Nobody is forgotten~ wrote your city’s celebrated poetess, Olga Berggolts of that epic battle. These simple yet powerful words should serve as a warning to all forces of Evil that they will never triumph against Good.

Friends, much to my disappointment, my stay in your dream city is going to be all too short. However, I am pleased that I am able to interact with this gathering of distinguished intellectuals. I thank you very much for having taken the trouble of coming to meet me.

I must confess that I am not an intellectual. Yes, I used to write poetry when I was younger, but, gradually, politics began to make exclusive demand on my time. Nevertheless, I have always enjoyed interacting with people of letters, aware of the truth of the Sanskrit adage.

There is something in the relations between India and Russia that defies time and tide. It is not widely known that Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian traveller, visited India well before the Portuguese voyager, Vasco de Gama, sailed to our western shores in 1492. He was the first recorded European to set foot on Indian soil.

He came to India by a river, land and sea route, which, 500 years later, has been recognised by India, Russia and Iran as the North-South Corridor of tremendous significance not only trade but as a strategic axis for Eurasia. Our three countries signed an agreement in September to develop this corridor.

The founder of your city, Peter the Great, issued directives in 1712 to explore the possibilities of a direct route to India. He and other Russian Czars gave privileges at Astrakhan to facilitate trade between India and Russia.

~Na hi jnanena sadarshan pavitramiha vidyete~

(There is nothing in this world that equals the purity of knowledge)

Trade during those days, as even now, did not involve mere exchange of commodities. Ideas, values, beliefs and cultural creations also got exchanged between our two peoples, influencing the intellectuals and artistic climate in India and Russia.

A century and a half ago, Prince Alexei Soltikov travelled to my country and left his wonderful memoirs in water-colours, graphics, and lithographs. Today, I had the pleasure of inaugurating an exhibition of his works, for the first time, for the people in St. Petersburg. I would very much like this exhibition to travel to India soon.

In 1920s, another great Russian artist, Nicholas Roerich, who belonged to St. Petersburg, came to India. He was truly a multi-faceted genius. Making the scenic Kullu Valley in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh his home, he painted over 7,000 brilliant paintings of the Himalayas, capturing the eternal spiritual message of the tall snowy mountains in all their eloquent colours.

India remains indebted to the Roerich family for the rich artistic and intellectual legacy it has left behind. The Government of India has drawn up a plan to renovate the Roerich Estate in Himachal Pradesh and develop it as a major centre for artistic tourism. We shall also take all necessary steps to redevelop the estate of Svatoslav Roerich, a celebrated painter in his own right in Bangalore.

We are also grateful to St. Petersburg for having given birth to Indology in Russia. The legendary Gerasim Lebedev was not only the first Russian Indologist, but was also the founder of a professional theatre in Calcutta. I salute the memory of this great scholar for founding the first printing press of Bengali language in St. Petersburg.

To continue this tradition of Indian studies, I am happy that we are establishing a Chair of Indology at St. Petersburg University through the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre in Moscow. I am confident that this Chair will further enrich your city’s contribution to the tradition of Russian Indology. We have taken similar initiatives to promote Indology studies in Moscow, Kazan and Vladivostok.

You will agree that, while consolidating the creative work of the past, we need to impart new dimensions to Indo-Russian cooperation in the fields of both scholarship and enterprise. In recent years, Ayurveda, Yoga and other traditional systems of medicine have emerged as an attractive area of mutual collaboration between our two countries. There is an immense scope for research, development and commercialisation in this area. I understand that there is a growing interest in Russia to participate in collaborative ventures. I assure you of all help and assistance from my Government in this regard.

Closer and deeper collaboration between the scholars of India and Russia will no doubt bring many benefits to our two countries. But they will also immensely benefit Asia, especially Central Asia. Many of your predecessors, who were valiant and energetic scholars, traversed the silk routes that crisscrossed our part of Asia. Seeking to quench their thirst for knowledge, they found some of the invaluable manuscripts of which St. Petersburg is the richest repository. In the process, these scholars promoted learning and spread the message of tolerance, tranquility and peace. By continuing with this noble tradition, you will be making invaluable contribution to the success of the North-South Corridor initiative that I talked about.

I think it will be useful to establish a ~Forum of Indologists~ to take our cooperation forward. From the Indian side, the Indian Council for Historical Research will provide all necessary assistance. I am confident that the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences will be a dynamic and worthy partner from Russia.

Distinguished intellectuals, the intellectuals of India and Russia, along with their brethren around the world, grappled with many momentous issues and developments in the 20th century. On balance, we can say that the forces of peace, democracy and pluralism have prevailed. However, as recent developments have starkly shown, the beginning of the new century has witnessed emergence of terrorism as the main danger to peace, stability and civilised world order. When terrorism feeds on religious extremism, its destructive power increases manifold.

Your country has faced this threat in the Caucasus. India has been facing it in Jammu & Kashmir and some other parts for the past decade and more. The horrendous terrorist attacks on USA in September have highlighted the evil face of this new menace to all peace-loving and right-thinking people around the world. They have shown the global reach of terrorism, and reminded us that the fight against this threat will also have to be based on the widest possible international cooperation.

Intellectuals, artists and literary workers have an important responsibility in this global fight against terrorism and religious extremism. It is a historical truth that the world is ruled by ideas. And ideas dwell in the minds of intellectuals, teachers, and scholars like you.

I am confident that the best minds of India and Russia will continue to interact with, and influence, each other to promote peace, brotherhood, and enlightenment in the new century, just as they did in previous centuries.

Thank you.~