Russian Consul Gen Alexey Novikov reveals India connection
Talking on his Indian link and the Indo-Russian partnership in various fields, the Consul General spoke spiritedly on various issues.
Read the excerpts from his interview.
Mr.
Novikov,
this
is
your
first
year
as
the
Consul
General
of
Russia
in
Mumbai.
What
are
your
impressions
about
being
here
and
working
as
the
Consul
General
of
your
country?
As
a
student
of
the
Moscow
State
Institute
of
International
Relations
I
had
opted
for
Hindi
as
my
first
language,
and
since
that
time
I
simply
adore
India
and
its
people.
I
joyfully
recollect
my
first
appointment
as
an
attache
in
Nepal
after
which
I
worked
faraway
from
South
Asia
for
a
while.
So,
first
of
all,
I
am
very
happy
to
be
“back
to
basics"
meaning
back
to
South
Asia
and
to
India.
I
am
also
glad
to
return
to
India
with
an
appointment
in
Mumbai
as
it
is
a
vibrant
and
promising
business
and
financial
center.
I
am
proud
to
represent
Russia
in
this
city
at
this
important
time
of
our
bilateral
relations.
Dmitri
Medvedev,
the
President
of
Russia,
who
visited
Mumbai
on
Dec
22,
2010
during
his
official
visit
to
India
said
that
relations
between
Russia
and
India
are
witnessing
a
new
era
of“privileged
strategic
partnership".
I
firmly
believe
that
Mumbai
plays
an
important
role
in
promoting
business
ties
between
Russia
and
India.
The Mumbai consular district that embraces the Western part of India in general and Maharashtra in particular contributes a lot to developing the people-to-people diplomacy (“logon ki dosti") as well, with Russian language studied both in Mumbai and Pune.
My first year as the Consul General in Mumbai saw several milestone events. The most high-profile and determinant of them was the visit of Dmitri Medvedev, the President of Russia,to India and to Mumbai. In Mumbai the President addressed the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), set up with the direct assistance of the Soviet Union.President Medvedev responded to a large number of questions from IIT students and professors on a wide range of subjects. I think that the visit of Dmitri Medvedev to the Institute not only revived the temporarily interrupted cooperation between our scientists but also gave a strong impetus to our ties in the field of high technologies and nanotechnology.
Building up on the results of the President"s visit to the IIT, Anatoly Chubais, the head of the largest Russian state-owned corporation for high technologies “Rosnano"addressed the IIT students in February 2011 and conducted fruitful talks with its faculty and heads.
While in Mumbai, Dmitri Medvedev visited “Bollywood" where he met with leading figures in the world of culture and cinematography in India. As you may know, very recently, a TV serial“Hindu", a joint Russian-Indian production, was shown on Russian television and met with great success and soon, with the support of our President, shooting shall be completed of a full-length Russian-Indian blockbuster “Players". In short, Dmitri Medvedev"s stay in Mumbai, in our consular district, gave a powerful impulse, also, to the development of relations between Western India and Russia. I am proud that the President visit as a sign of our new level of partnership was successfully accomplished during my first year in office.
The
50th
anniversary
of
Yuri
Gagarin"s
space
flight
was
celebrated
this
year.
India
and
Russia
enjoy
numerous
space
programs,
what
is
your
take
on
that?
Really,
the
year
2011
is
marked
by
the
50th
anniversary
of
sending
the
first
man
into
space
–
a
Soviet,
a
Russian
man
–
Yuri
Gagarin.
This
is
a
great
celebration
for
all
mankind!
We
have
tried,
in
full
measure,
to
ensure
a
high
level
of
celebration
of
this
major
event,
which
is
also
important
in
terms
of
Russian-Indian
relations.
We
closely
collaborate
with
India
in
space.
In
the
autumn
of
1961
Yuri
Gagarin
visited
India
where
he
was
personally
accompanied
by
Jawaharlal
Nehru.
And
it
is
especially
gratifying
to
note
that
Yuri
Gagarin
also
visited
what
was
then
called,
Bombay,
where
he
was
honored
triumphantly.
Earlier
this
year
we
held
a
big
festival,
inaugurated
an
exhibition,
dedicated
to
Yuri
Gagarin
and
the
fiftieth
anniversary
of
the
space
era,
in
a
museum
at
the
Consulate
General
and
the
Russian
Cultural
Centre
in
Mumbai.
Then
an
exhibition
was
opened
at
the
Nehru
Centre
Planetarium,
at
the
University
of
Mumbai
and
at
other
places.
We
conducted
a
series
of
exhibition
tours
for
Indian
schoolchildren
and
students,
showed
them
films.
During
the
solemn
function
on
April
13,
a
salutatory
message
from
India"s
first
cosmonaut,
Rakesh
Sharma,
addressed
to
us,
was
read
out.
And now Mumbai is hosting a dignified guest from Russia, Mr. Viktor Savinikh, the 50th Russia"s and the 100th world"s cosmonaut, who came to Mumbai to inaugurate the exhibition in the Nehru planetarium and address the IIT students. In the course of this merry celebration I reflect on one question: why in my consular district is their only one monument dedicated to Russia (the monument in therather remote village of Revdanda commemorating the Russian merchant, Afanasy Nikitin who, in the year 1469, discovered India for Europe)?. Unfortunately,there do not exist any other monuments connected with Russia on the territory of this consular district. And then, I saw television reports from London,saying that on the 50th anniversary of the space era, a monument to Yuri Gagarin was erected there. I ask myself: why can we not do this in Mumbai? Are the English better friends to us than the Indians? Or is the famous expression “Hindi-Russi Bhai Bhai" no longer relevant? It is necessary to say that my proposal to commemorate the name of Yuri Gagarin in Mumbai was well supported by the Indian side – first, by the Director of the Mumbai Planetarium, Mr. Pandey and now, also, by the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai, during our recent meeting. Currently we are discussing, with Indian authorities,the matter of naming after Yuri Gagarin, one of the roads in the city, or a new flyover – on the Dadar T.T. – Byculla route (by erecting a commemorative sign). This would be perfect on the 50thanniversary of man"s first flight to space!
As for the joint space activities between Russia and India today, one cannot but admit that space is the key sector of cooperation between the two countries. Nearly three decades after Sharma"s historic flight in 1984 the Indian Space Research Organization is scheduling a human space flight in the year 2017 and a lunar mission known as Chandrayaan –II project. In November 2007 an agreement on joint lunar exploration was signed between India and Russia to cooperate in both Orbiter and Lander. The 2008 Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Activities in the field of Human Space flight program between India and Russia provides for an Indian astronaut first going on a space mission on a Russian spacecraft. Roskosmos will also assist ISRO in building a spacecraft for the Indian manned mission by 2015 and redesigning the Soyuz space capsule. If the mission is successful, India will become the forth nation in the world after Russia, the USA and China to send a manned mission into outer space.
This year the Consulate General of Russia in Mumbai celebrated its 110 years. Could you tell us something about the celebrations?
In November 2010 we widely celebrated the 110th anniversary of the Consulate General of Russia in Mumbai- the first Russian diplomatic mission in India. It became an occasion for the exchange of messages between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of both countries. We prepared a spectacular cultural program and had a function at the Russian Center for Culture and Science to which our friends were invited. H.E. Mr. Alexander Kadakin, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to India, visited Mumbai on the occasion. He had several press conferences with the representatives of many Maharashtrian printed outlets. Many other friends of Russia and the Consulate showed up at the celebration and conveyed their warm wishes to us. To name but a few: Mr.Suheendra Kulkarni, President of the Observer research Foundation, Mr. Dilip Dandekar, President of the Indian Merchant Chamber, Mr. Vijay Kalantri,President of the All India Association of Industries, Dr. Laxmi S. Mikaelyan, Head of the Russian language Department of the Mumbai University, Professor Suniti Deshpande of the Russian language, Mr. Mukut Sah, President of the Indo-Russian Friendship Society. If I continue on the list it will take me a long time. We have many friends in Mumbai, we feel their support for which we are grateful and we are looking forward to meeting them all once again at the state reception on our national holiday, the Day of Russia that we will be celebrating on June 12 and 13.
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