India-Lithuania cultural interactions: a contemporary perspective
ENLithuania established diplomatic relations with India in 1992 after regaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. The Lithuanian political leadership endorsed that Indians and Lithuanians have similarities in culture, language, customs and ancestry while attempting to promote relations with India. The Indian leadership in the early twentieth century viewed Lithuania as a distinct cultural entity with linguistic and cultural traditions similar to that of India. It has also been observed in India that the Baltic states, including Lithuania, had a strong fascination towards India, which is the oldest among the world civilizations, under the influence of Europeans, especially Germans from classical antiquity. It is interesting to know that they had a very nostalgic and emotional feeling towards Indian people, religion, spirituality, language and culture. India remains predominantly a mystical, exotic cultural notion in the minds of people of Lithuania. Understanding about modern India is deficient among Lithuanians. In contemporary India-Lithuania relations, culture and past interactions are being used by both countries as an important foreign policy instrument for promoting bilateral cooperation and mutual understanding among people. Hence, this paper is a search for the possible interactions between Indians and Lithuanians in the past, which is almost an unfamiliar subject in India, with a contemporary perspective.
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