"We all feel honoured and privileged to welcome in our midst His Excellency the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Mr. President, your visit to India is yet another milestone in the long journey of peace and friendship that our two nations have traveled together. Russia and India have known each other for centuries and the people of our two countries have developed over these long years a feeling of mutual regard and affection that is deep and binding.

There is no doubt that with time and progress our relations have evolved. What is deeply satisfying is the fact that this evolution has only deepened and broadened the relationship and strengthened its unshakeable foundations. I believe an important reason for this profound truth is the fact that the relationship between India and Russia is not merely one between States and governments but is in fact defined and shaped by the interaction between peoples and cultures. No one captured this aspect of our relationship more knowledgeably than Jawaharlal Nehru. In his many books, his many essays, his innumerable speeches and letters, Panditji revealed a profound understanding of the life, the passions, the aspirations, the struggle, the intellectual and cultural contributions and the scientific and technological prowess of the Russian people.

In his letters written in 1930s to his teenage daughter Panditji paid tribute to the literary and artistic heritage of Russia. To Russian ballet, to Russian art and above all Russian literature. He was profoundly influenced by Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tchekov, Gorky and, of course, Leo Tolstoy, whom he described as "perhaps the greatest of them all... a genius at writing novels, but also a religious and spiritual leader whose influence was far-reaching". Every Indian knows the friendship between Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi.

It is, your Excellency, on such intellectual and cultural foundations that the relationship between our two Nations has been built. We in India are deeply grateful to the people of Russia for their generosity and for their solidarity. Our journey as an independent Republic has been greatly enabled by the economic, scientific and technological support and cooperation your people and government have so generously extended to us. India and the Indian people will always remember this with profound gratitude.

Today, it is a matter of great pride that you are here to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture. It is a fitting way to pay tribute to the man who saw long before many statesmen and world leaders the profound impact Russia and the Russian people would have on world affairs in the 20th Century. As we enter a new Century we must work together to realize the dream of Panditji of creating a world in which all people and all Nations live in peace and with dignity. A world in which countries like Russia and India regain their rightful place and realize their chosen destiny.