The Delhi Declaration Cardinal of Indo-Soviet Relations (A Bibliographical Study)

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About the Author Dr. Shri Nath Sahai (b. 1929) was awarded Ph. D. degree in 1969 for his empirical research on Library and the Community, which has been adjudged as a "remarkable and praiseworthy contribution to library literature". He has also worked as Project Director of several projects sanctioned by the Social Science Documentation Centre (ICSSR), New Delhi.

Dr. Shri Nath Sahai has been University Librarian at the University of Jodhpur, Rajasthan (India) from 1976 to 1988 where he held the rank and status of University Professor. Before this assign- ment, he was at the Bihar University, Muzaffarpur. He has worked also as Documentation Officer at the Research Library of A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna (Bihar). He has lectured for some time at the library schools in U.P. and Bihar.

His research papers have been published in the reputed professional and academic journals in India and abroad. Author of nine books, Dr. Sahai has contributed stories, poems, essays and criticism etc., to the leading literary journals and the national dailies. He has also talked very frequently on AIR. He received the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Award (Government) 1976-77 for his book Pustkalaya Avam Samudaya. He is indexed, biographically, in the Who's Who of Indian Writers, published by Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters), New Delhi. He is member of ILS, IASLIC and IAAL.

Introduction The cherished Indo-Soviet relations date back to centuries. The political, economic and cultural ties between the peoples of the two countries go back to more than two thousand years. In the second century BC a substantial part of modern Soviet Central Asia, the north of Hindustan and Afghanistan formed parts of a powerful Kushan Empire, which contributed distinctively to the world civilization. The oldest written monument of Kievan Rush in twelfth century (Tale of Bygone Years) mentions the fairy land of India, indicating that relation between Central Asia and Delhi Sultanate existed at that time. The work A Journey Beyond Three Seas of Afanasy Nikitin, who visited India in the fifteenth century, found place amongst the most important Russian manuscript collection. The outstanding Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin praised the works by Kalidasa saying, "for me, Kalidasa is no less important than Homer". The Indian merchants prospered in Astrakhan in the lower reaches of the Volga for centuries and in 1812 war against Napolean, they abundantly donated to the Russian victory.

Similarly, distinguished Russian statesmen voiced their support for the Indian freedom fighters against the British colonialism. Russian scientists contributed appreciably to the mutual understanding between the two countries. I. P. Minayer (founder of the Russian School of Indology) visited India thrice during 1870-80s and wrote three books on history and culture of India. Leo Tolstoy, whose ideas and writings influenced Mahatma Gandhi, is known in India even more intimately than Shakespeare, Byron or Dickens, because of the similarity of the views pursued by the two nations regarding racism, humanism and democracy. These ideas are closer to those propounded in the works of Marx and Engels. Lenin termed the liberation struggles in Asia, including that in India, as "the awakening in Asia".

The centuries-old bond of friendship was further transformed into reality after the 1917 October Revolution and Indian Independence. Remarkably, the Soviet Union established its diplomatic relations with India even four months before the latter attained legal independence, and ever since both the countries have been combating jointly against neocolonialism, racism and threat of war. In 1949-51, the Soviet Union helped India repel imperialist intrigues in Kashmir. The Soviet Union provided India with sophisticated weaponry that helped fight off the aggression of Pakistan during 1965 and 1971. But for the unequivocal and unstinted help of the Soviet Union, it could not have been possible for the Indian armed forces to liberate Bangladesh swiftly in 1971. The way the Soviet Fleet kept the American Sixth Fleet off is still fresh in our memory.

And, the glittering landmark for India and the Soviet Union was August 9, 1971 Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Co-operation which strengthened our bilateral relations and ushered peace in Asia. This treaty provided instant relief to India and was greeted with immeasurable applause and enthusiasm by the people here. It proved to be a stabilizing factor for security, peace and development not only for India and the Soviet Union, but also for the region as a whole.

The psychological closeness and the matching political ideologies of the two countries regarding humanism and democracy culminated into the signing of the Delhi Declaration during the visit of Mr Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, to India in November 1986, incorporating noble human ideals and a programme of political action. This imparted a truly new international dimension to the Indo-Soviet relations and opened up new vistas for bilateral co-operation in the world.