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Not many in India are aware of the close historical and cultural connection that India shares with Lithuania, a connection that goes back many centuries. While the two countries have started afresh to cooperate on economic and social levels in last two decades, there is immense scope for people to people and cultural cooperation between the two countries. In a discussion with Rajesh Mehta, Consulting Editor, ‘Governance Today,’ Mr. Laimonas Talat-Kelpša, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania, shared his opinion on various aspects of the historical cultural relations between the two countries and how these can be strengthened further.

How are India & Lithuania connected culturally?

There is common belief in Lithuania that our national language, Lithuanian, originates from Sanskrit. This connection, first addressed by European scholars in the 19th century, had become a foundation of Lithuanian National Revival Movement in the late 19th century. Ever since we’ve been taught that Lithuanian is the closest surviving sister of Sanskrit in Europe. More than eight generations of Lithuanians have been raised with this idea in their mind. It has become part and parcel of our national mythology, and serves as our connection to India, past and present.

Our first documented contact with India happened 390 years ago, on 22 August 1625, when a Lithuanian missionary Andrius Rudamina landed in Goa. To celebrate this occasion, a memorial stone was unveiled in Old Goa this summer. This connection with India via the Catholic Church has remained strong, with Lithuanian priests serving as local bishops and legates throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Outside the ecclesial realm, much of our bilateral history is associated with the name ofan adventurous traveler and explorer AntanasPoška, who came to India on a motor bike in 1931and stayed in the country for several years.At that time Lithuania was already an independent republic, and India was still struggling for its freedom. Poška was deeply impressed by the Gandhian principles of non-violent struggle and conveyed his admiration, on behalf of all Lithuanians, to Gandhiji himself, when the two met in Bombay in 1931. Poška’svast legacy of academic research into India and South Asia still serves as an authoritative source to present-day scholars. In January 2015, the University of Calcutta awarded him with Honoris Causa post mortem, thus redeeming a long-standing debt towards this great personality.

How are the Indian language Sanskrit and Lithuanian closely related?

To cut this long story short, I would just provide two eminent quotes. First,“Anyone who wants to hear the old Indo-European should go and listen to a Lithuanian farmer,” said a renowned French linguist Antoine Meillet in the end of the 19th century. And the second,“The nearest approach to Sanskrit in Europe is made by the Lithuanian language,” by Jawaharlal Nehru in his landmark book “The Discovery of India.” The linguistic proximity of Sanskrit and Lithuanian is a well-established fact.

In my pocket, I already have a list of more than 50 words which I have gathered from my daily encounters with Indians. For example: dev – dievas (god), agni – ugnis (fire), sapnā – sapnas (dream), śakha – šaka (branch), rath – ratai (chariot) and many others. These words come from different walks of life, and cover various subjects from religion and abstract things to numbers and animals and household items. And take note that we only speak of the recognizable words in modern Hindi! The comparative analysis of Lithuanian and Classical Sanskrit would produce a much longer list of commonalities, and not only in vocabularies but also in grammatical structures. In fact, the Lithuanian Language Institute is already working on a small dictionary which would reveal the striking resemblance of the two languages.

Of late, there has been a significant increase in Indian Students going to Lithuania. How do you explain this?

The growing number of Indian students in Lithuania is one of the many success stories we willingly share with our Indian counterparts. This number has jumped from 57 students in 2012 to more than 600 in 2015. Lithuania has a long-standing tradition of good quality education. And because of demographic reasons the demand for students has been constantly growing. Our universities have expanded the range of courses offered in English, while the fees remain very competitive. For example, in England the average tuition fee would be around 20,000 pounds per year while in Lithuania it would stand at 3,000-4,000 euros per year. The living cost is also significantly less. I believe these are the reasons why Lithuania has become such a popular destination for international students.

Could you tell us about the Indian Community in Lithuania?

The Indian community in Lithuania is not particularly large. Till the recent arrival of Indian students it was easily counted on the fingers of one hand. However, those who have stayed are usually very successful people. For example, Mr. Rajinder Chaudhary, the owner of legendary “Indian Sue’s Raja” restaurant in Vilnius, has been named as “an Indian legend in Lithuania” by one Indian online newspaper. Indorama Ventures Ltd., India’s largest investor in the Baltic States, is running a successful manufacturing facility in the Klaipėda Free Economic Zone. We also see a growing number of IT specialists hired by Lithuanian banks, although they come to Lithuania mostly on a temporary basis.

What are the key areas of cooperation between two countries?Could you please elaborate the potential in Agriculture & Tourism?

Although we have a historical connection through Sanskrit and elsewhere, our bilateral relations in modern terms are rather new. The diplomatic relations were established in 1992, and Lithuanian Embassy in New Delhi was opened in 2008. Hence, this chapter still has many pages to be filled in.

But a few success stories have already emerged and are worth mentioning. For example, the exports of lasers and laser-related technologies amounted to more than 20 per cent of Lithuania’s export to India in 2014. Imports of Indian pharmaceuticals to Lithuania stand at about 12 per cent. Thus, our trade is focused predominately on high-value added commodities. Second, a very successful cooperation has evolved in the area of student exchange. Along with the rapidly growing number of Indian students going to Lithuanian universities, we also have more than 100 Lithuanians who have benefited from the India-sponsored ITEC program. The interest to cooperate in knowledge-based areas is rather obvious and must be promoted. Agriculture and Tourism are now emerging as new important additions to our bilateral partnership. Shri Mohanbhai Kundariya, Minister of State Agriculture, has just recently visited Lithuania where he had a series of very productive talks with his Lithuanian counterparts. Lithuania, a country the size of Himachal Pradesh with the population of 3 million, is famous not only for its highly efficient agricultural sector, with its agricultural exports reaching EUR 3bn in 2014, but also for its cultures and technologies, especially in the dairy field.

A Memorandum of Understanding in Agriculture is being finalized and soon will be ready for signature.

As for tourism, Lithuania and its capital Vilnius has been nominated in all major categories recently: a best-value city for budget travelers by European Backpackers Index, a number-three country to visit by Lonely Planet, a must-see by the Places-to-See-in-Your-Lifetime Index etc. We believe that in a couple of years or so, an increasingly larger number of Indians will discover Lithuania as an attractive tourist destination.

It is believed that Mahatma Gandhi is quite popular in Lithuania? Please let us know more about it.

The Gandhian principles of non-violence were at the heart of Lithuania’s successful independence campaign against Soviet Union in 1987-1991. However, our connection with the great leader of India is also more intimate, thanks to Gandhi’s closest associate, a Jewish architect Hermann Kallenbach, who was born in Lithuania. Gandhi used to call Kallenbach his “soulmate.” To commemorate their friendship, and also to promote the Indo-Lithuanian relations, a monument was unveiled in Rusnė, Kallenbach’s birthplace, this October. The monument was sponsored by another distinguished Indian and Lithuanian at the same time, Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied, the owner of the pharmaceutical giant Cipla, who was also born in Vilnius in 1936.

Lithuania wants India to open an Embassy in Lithuania. Have any progress been made so far?

The idea of having an Indian diplomatic mission in Vilnius is not a romantic whim. It is part of a deal between India and Lithuania, concluded in 2005, when our countries agreed to support each other in promoting the UN Reform Agenda and also strengthen bilateral ties. “We remain committed to open a Resident Mission in Vilnius and invite you to do the same,” reads the letter of India’s External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh, issued on that occasion. Lithuania opened its embassy in New Delhi in 2008. The Indian part of the agreement, we hope, will also be delivered.

In your opinion what is the greatest obstacle preventing even deeper relations between the two countries? How it is being addressed?

The lack of knowledge is perhaps the greatest obstacle. That Lithuania is still unknown in India is only part of the problem.

Lithuanians too have an incomplete image of India. The time when India spoke Classical Sanskrit is long gone. Neither is India a country which we saw in Raj Kapoor films. The picture of modern India, with its immense complexity and great opportunities, is often missing in Lithuanian daily discourse.

The opening of an Indian Embassy in Vilnius would certainly help in closing this gap.

Could you share any success stories of Indian students that have studied in your country? Where do they tend to continue their careers after graduation: in Lithuania, India, other EU countries?

A student from South India, Emil William Thattakath, was ranked among the top-10 best graduates of Kaunas Technology University in 2014 and received his graduation diploma from President Dalia Grybauskaitė. Another KTU graduate, Najeeb Hasan, used his studies in Lithuania as a stepping stone to pursue his career in Budapest and later in Vienna.

I believe the number of such success stories will only grow as the number of Indian students in Lithuania will keep increasing.

Lithuania has approved tax incentives for investments in film production? Could you please throw more light in it?

That’s a very good question. Yes, Lithuania provides tax incentives to the foreign production companies who choose to shoot in Lithuania. Up to 20 per cent of production costs incurred in Lithuania can be reimbursed, provided that the foreign production house meets certain criteria.

This summer, Irrfan Khan spent a few weeks in Vilnius filming a Japanese TV miniseries “The Tokyo Trials”, and he highly praised the shooting conditions in Lithuania. He was also impressed by the work of the local partners. So time is high for the other Bollywood companies to follow the suit!

Source: Governance Today