The mutual respect and understanding between India and Russia began hundreds of years ago. This is why the West does not understand the decisions these countries make with regard to each other concerning Ukraine, China, and the countries of Eurasia. The former does not understand their history together, which provides the underpinning for their close relationship.

Geography does not necessarily determine neighbors and friendship. For centuries, India and Russia have developed an uncharacteristic historical relationship, without immediate geographic proximity. Archaeological evidence and historical linguistic similarities reveal that cultural ties were forged from ancient times. At one time, the Sanskrit and old Slavonic languages were related – in fact, there are religious similarities noted in the names of the gods the two peoples worshiped.

It is striking to note that even after Christianity arrived in Russia, various cultural affinities remained. Moreover, this plurality and eclecticism is a unique characteristic of Russia; it incorporates areas of Europe and Asia, like the Roman god Janus. Yet, India has also welcomed diverse peoples to its shores, which led the great Indian thinker and poet, Rabindranath Tagore, to refer to India as “the seashore of humanity.” 

Cultural Affinity

This may serve to explain why Russia, primarily viewed as a European nation, continues to relate well and establish affinity with Eurasian cultures. Russian travelers to India constitute a perfect example. Afanasy Nikitin’s travelogue reflects both interest in and respect for India, its people and culture. He sought to understand India’s customs and culture, not its commerce for profit or its politics for power. In a like manner, Prince Sergey Saltykov’s sketches and renderings of India and Vasily Vereshchagin’s paintings are accomplished with empathy and interest in its people. 

Peter the Great exhibited a cultural interest when he dispatched to India Russian scholars to learn about the Indian civilization and as a result, established the Institute for Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg in 1818. Yet, even before Peter I, the first Romanov tsars sought to initiate exchanges with Khiva and Bukhara as a means of establishing diplomatic and commercial ties with the Mughal emperors.

Political Support

It should not go unmentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin has very rightly alluded to Russian support for India during its freedom movement. During the Great Uprising of 1857, Tsarist Russia gave both advice and moral support to subjugated India. Tsar Nicholas I publicly condemned the brutal treatment of Indian rebels at the hands of the British. He is said to have advised British Queen Victoria to cease the atrocities, while Count Leo Tolstoy led a media campaign to condemn British rule on the subcontinent. 

When in 1905 the revolutionary movements were suppressed by the British Raj, Tolstoy responded with his five principles of passive resistance. It was these that served as guidelines for the civil disobedience movement, which commenced under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921. Tolstoy’s contribution and caring manner have remained in the collective consciousness of the Indian people.

Tolstoy And Tagore

A cultural discourse has always remained between India and Russia when the two nations have cooperated for a peaceful cause. As Russia’s greatest writer, Tolstoy gave advice to Indians, India’s greatest poet gave warm support to the Soviet Union when capitalist Western Europe was eyeing an opportunity to strike against the newly created egalitarian republic. 

The famous playwright and journalist Anatoly Lunacharsky would in 1931 invite Tagore to visit Soviet Russia. The British government, then ruling India, forbade him to go. Tagore was then a deeply revered international personality. He had received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913, and was made a knight of the British Empire in 1915 -- he would subsequently renounce the award after the massacre of Indians at Jallianwalla Bagh. 

In spite of the British declaration against it, India’s greatest poet went to Russia and published a powerful, prophetic travelogue, Letters from Russia, praising the new socioeconomic experiment in Russia and its government for transforming the country for the better economically and sociologically. But he also saw the gathering indications of a terrible war and advised the Russians accordingly. His prophecy came true ten years later when Nazi Germany attacked the Russian homeland.

The British government, of course, banned the book and ceased providing funds to Tagore’s university at Shantiniketan. The great poet paid a high price for expressing his admiration for the new Russia. 

The mutual respect and empathy developed between Russia and India over centuries are rooted in historical traditions. Neither pursued policies of exploiting other people’s resources. Both have believed in respecting civilizational diversity. This orientation continues today in the context of the BRICS countries of which Russia and India are foundational members.

It is appropriate that Tolstoy, the apostle of peace (as was Mahatma Gandhi) should have an international prize named for him. The Leo Tolstoy Peace Prize seeks to promote the quest for world peace through discourse between peoples of different races, colors, and creeds. The recipients of this prize are indeed entrusted with the task of carrying forward the message of Tolstoy: to attain stability, harmony, and peace in a world of tumult and turmoil.

(The writer is Dr. F. Andrew Wolf, Jr. is director of The Fulcrum Institute. Views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at fandrewwolfjr@yahoo.com)