ID :
53217
Tue, 03/31/2009 - 23:06
Auther :

India kickstarts year-long fest in Russia

Moscow, Mar 31 (PTI) Renowned Indian maestros and folk
artists with their gala performances will woo hearts and minds
of a new generation of Russians as the year-long India in
Russia festival kickstarts here.

The Year of India will be jointly inaugurated Tuesday by
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) President, Karan
Singh and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov.

A similar inaugural will be held on April two in St
Petersburg, which is the home town of Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

It was Putin's initiative to hold the years of India and
Russia on each-other's soil to fill the information gap
between the people of the two strategic partners with a long
history of proven friendship at the time of odds.

Under a bilateral inter-governmental protocol in 2008,
highly successful Year of Russia was celebrated in India,
Singh said during a press conference here on the eve of the
inauguration of the Indian fest.

"The Year of India in Russia will be covering the whole
gamut of activities including art, science and commerce," he
said.

The year of Russia in India will continue till the end of
this year and during the period Indian Naval warship will pay
a visit to St Petersburg in June.

"The idea behind the reciprocal years of each-other is to
strengthen already strong relationship, so that the young
generations in the two countries rock to the same rhythm,"
Singh pointed out.

He said the focus is on fostering person-to-person
contact, for which many events will be held including Indian
science week for young scientists, "Bal Ulhas Mela'(Children
Fest) for school children besides buyer-seller meets.

Three Indian food festivals will be held in Moscow and
other cities.

Given the vast geography of Russia, Indian festivals will
be held in the cities including St Petersburg, Samara, Kazan,
Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk and Ekaterinburg.

India will be a guest of honour at the Moscow
International Book Fair, while several film festivals are also
being mulled including the retrospective of Raj Kapur's
evergreen hits, which are immensely popular in the former
Soviet states. PTI VS
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