By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The Indian experience can go a long way in resolving the problems of modern Russia, says a Russian academician, adding that his countrymen should learn humanitarian values and love for one another from the Indians.
The comment was made by historian Yevgeny Rashkovsky during an interview with RIA Novosti on the sidelines of a recently-held seminar here on India, titled “Religious and Spiritual Values of India in Ancient and Modern Times”.
The Russians have always understood and shared the ideas of non-violence and non-resistance (satyagraha), two great pillars of Indian philosophy, he said.
Russian author Leo Tolstoy, one of the greatest of all times, had written extensively on these ideas, which were later supported by Soviet dissidents, including human rights activist Andrei Sakharov, historian Rashkovsky said.
Study of India in Russia is highly developed but it must gain insight into Indian religion and spiritual values, the academician said.
Various participants in the conference underscored the need for the study of Indian spiritual ideas as an essential step in understanding modern India and as the way to deeper interactions between the two nations.
Russian orientalists and cultural experts discussed linguistic, philosophical and artistic problems of Russian Indology, particular features of Indian religious traditions and parallels in the cultural legacy of the two countries. They noted that the Indian experience could be used for resolving problems of modern Russia.
Officials from the Indian embassy, leading Russian Indologists, specialists in oriental studies and theologians attended the conference. It was chaired by Tatyana Shaumyan, the director of the Centre of Indian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.