Cultural and Educational Cooperation
Since the Soviet era, Belarus has had a strong affinity towards Indian culture. Indian films, dance and music remain popular in Belarus. Many young Belarusians have keen interest in learning Hindi and classical dances of India.
The Embassy of India offers free classes for yoga, Indian classical dance forms, as well as Hindi language. The classes are very popular amongst the people in Minsk. In addition to classes, the trained students also perform in Indian cultural shows organized by the Embassy in Minsk and other cities of Belarus.
During April 2022 – March 2023, Embassy celebrated the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations with music and dance concerts of Indian classical art forms, performed by Belarusian as well as Indian artists. In July 2022, an Indian performing troupe “Bhairi Bhavani” visited Belarus and performed at the prestigious Slaviyanski Bazaar in Vitebsk. The troupe also performed in the cities of Minsk and Gomel.
In the last few years, new Indian movies have been released in Belarus, including on the same date as the Indian release. To sustain and build on the interest in Indian cinema, Embassy organizes regular screenings of Indian films dubbed in Russian. Weeks of Indian Cinema have been organized in Minsk and other Belarusian cities.
A Belarusian Sanskrit scholar Prof. Mikhail Mikhailov wrote a book “Key to Vedas” in Russian which has been translated into English. Another Belarusian Indophile, the late Ms. Taisa Bondar had translated Saint Kabir’s verses in Russian language. In July 2016, a book 'First Mandala' of 'Rigveda' translated from Sanskrit into Belarusian language by Belarusian writer and poet Igar Kulikov was released.
A bust of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled by President of India on 3rd June 2015 in Belarusian State University.
To institutionalise and further these connections, the two countries have a Programme of Cooperation in the field of Culture. This programme is renewed every two years. On 9 November 2023, a Programme of Cooperation in the field of Culture was signed between India and Belarus for the period 2023-25.
Belarus has also shown interest in establishing cooperation in joint production of feature films involving Indian and Belarusian artists.
There have been strong educational links from the Soviet days. Currently, there are about 900 students from India studying, mostly medicine, in various Universities and Institutions in Belarus.
Belarus is a beneficiary of India’s ITEC programme with 15 slots for short-term training courses for 2023-24. Over 350 experts and specialists from Belarus have benefited from ITEC programme in diverse areas such as Information Technology, Management, Administration, Banking & Finance, Education & Human Resource Development, English Language, Journalism, Diplomacy, Entrepreneurship, Water Resource Development, Internet Security, Crime Management, Legislative drafting for foreign parliamentary and Government officials, etc.
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) offers long term scholarships for Undergraduage/Postgraduate/PhD courses. Four such slots are available for Belarusian nationals. Apart from other academic requirements (depending on the choice of course applied for) proficiency in the English language is mandatory for availing these scholarships.
February 2024
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