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A mix of Russian politics and India's age-old ties made Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee begin his four-day official visit to Russia from St. Petersburg and not Moscow.
And in a speech to intellectuals, Vajpayee, in his inimitable style, combined wit, poetry and statecraft to pay his respects to this city that has seen some of the most dramatic events in Soviet history.
Russian President Vladimir Putin belongs to this city, was vice-mayor here and likes to showcase it to foreign dignitaries.
Many a stalwart in the Putin administration belongs to St. Petersburg, which, besides being the largest seaport, is the second largest city in the federation.
In his speech, Vajpayee recalled India's links with St. Petersburg, some of them barely known to people at large.
"I am delighted to be in this great city of St. Petersburg," he said. "The founder of your city, Peter the Great, issued directives in 1712 to explore the possibilities of a direct route to India."
"There is something in the relations between India and Russia that defies time and tide. It is not widely know that Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian traveller, visited India well before the Portuguese voyager, Vasco da Gama, sailed to our western shores in 1492," he revealed.
"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."
"I must confess that I am not an intellectual," he added. "Yes, I used to write poetry when I was younger, but, gradually, politics began to make exclusive demands on my time," he told the audience.
The Indian connection with St. Petersburg runs deep.
Crown Prince Nicolai II visited India in 1890-91 and travelled through more than 20 cities. His Indian collections and gifts are to be seen at the Hermitage Institute of Oriental Studies.
Before Nicolai, Prince Alexei Soltikov had visited India in 1841-43. His exhibition of water colours and lithographs, put on public display for the first time, was inaugurated by Vajpayee on Monday.
"He left his wonderful memoirs in water colours, graphics and lithographs. Today, I have the pleasure of inaugurating an exhibition of his works for the first time for the people of 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."
"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 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."
Sanskrit was taught in the city as far back as 1858 at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at St Petersburg University, while the Chair of Indian Philology today conducts courses, besides Sanskrit, in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil and Oriya and general courses in ancient and medieval Indian literature, mythology, epics and Indian history.
About 800 Indian students are studying in St Petersburg, mainly medicine. The city also boasts of Indian dance clubs and at least two Indian restaurants, one of them said to have been frequented by Putin.
Vajpayee is visiting the city after 22 years, the last time being as external affairs minister in the 1977-79 Janata Party government. To mark his visit, a Russian translation of his speeches was released.
Vajpayee flew from St Petersburg to Moscow to begin the official part of his visit that includes talks with Putin. He leaves for Washington November 7.
Indo-Asian News Service
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