CEREMONY OF PRESENTING THE ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP TO MR DANDAPANI JAYAKANTHAN
REMARKS BY H.E. MR ALEXANDER KADAKIN, AMBASSADOR OF RUSSIA TO INDIA, AT CEREMONY OF PRESENTING THE ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP TO MR DANDAPANI JAYAKANTHAN
(Chennai, February 15, 2012)
Esteemed Mr Dandapani Jayakanthan,
Esteemed Mr Veeramani,
Esteemed Mr V.Lakshminarayan,
Dear Indian and Russian friends,
At the outset let me confess that it is with great pleasure that I always visit the dynamically developing state of Tamil Nadu and its beautiful capital Chennai. As elsewhere in India, my country and me personally have many friends here. But it is also well known that South India holds a prominent place in the long story of friendly relations between our two nations. Another testimony to that is today's meeting. On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, Mr Dmitry Medvedev, I have the honour and pleasure to present the high Order of Friendship to a great friend of Russia, a renowned Tamil writer Mr Dandapani Jayakanthan. This Order was awarded to him by the Head of the Russian state for an invaluable contribution to fostering Russian-Indian amity and cultural ties between our countries.
There is no need to dwell on Mr Jayakanthan's merits as they are common knowledge. The founder and president of the Indian-Russian Culture and Friendship Society, one of the most outstanding modern Tamil writers, he has authored numerous popular stories, novels and film scripts. In his works Mr Jayakanthan has always championed the ideals of justice and equality, the rights of the working man. Himself in early days a simple worker, through his talent he managed to become a living classic, writing in his mother tongue – Tamil, one of the world's most ancient and advanced languages with classic literature spanning over two thousand years. Its masterpieces have been translated and published in Russian.
We are grateful to Mr Jayakanthan for promoting classic Russian literature in India. In particular, he has penned translation into Tamil of the oeuvre of our national genius – Alexander Pushkin. In turn, Jayakanthan's works have been translated into Russian. It is not accidental that Chennai is home to the Jayakanthan-Pushkin Literature Club, as cultural and spiritual bonds are the strongest. They bring us closer to each other.
Deep-rooted Russian-Indian friendship has withstood the test of time. This April, in the year of Russian Festival in India, we will celebrate the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and India. We have travelled a glorious journey ever since and have reached a unique level of a special and privileged strategic partnership.
Importantly, Tamil Nadu's place in boosting Russian-Indian cooperation is quite prominent. Since the visits to Madras of the Soviet leaders – Nikita Khrushev and Nikolai Bulganin in now distant 1955 and Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin in 1961 – there have been many landmark events in the history of our interaction with this region. In the 1960s and 70s the USSR assisted in building the Neyveli industrial complex with coal production, chemical manufacturing and oil refinery as well as the Mettur aluminum plant.
Basing upon the achievements of the past, we follow up our cooperation at present and look into future with confidence. Russia participates in developing Tamil Nadu's power sector, transport infrastructure and motor industry. It is of vital interest for the people of Tamil Nadu that the situation around Kudankulam nuclear power plant should be settled at the earliest and its two power units, designed and equipped with the most advanced and safest technologies in the world, should start producing electricity, so much needed for the state. Production of Kamaz heavy trucks of various models in Hosur is ever-expanding. Another major project is in the pipeline – metro construction in Chennai with 7 tunneled kilometers and 7 underground stations commissioned from the Russian company "Metrostroi", which built the world-famous Moscow metro. I named here only a few projects of Russian-Indian cooperation in Tamil Nadu. Let me also mention the resumed sister-city contacts between Volgograd and Chennai. It is my pleasure to acknowledge that the Consulate General in Chennai, that will celebrate its 50th anniversary this June, plays a pivotal role in all these endeavours.
Today Russia and India are actively working on various projects to broaden bilateral cooperation in all spheres, be it economy, trade, innovation technologies, space, nuclear energy, education, or culture. Together with India – one of the world's largest economies and a superpower in the making – we are closely cooperating in the international arena, whether it is fight against terrorism, or struggle for a safer, more stable and just world order.
In these noble and constructive endevours we rely on support from our long-standing and trusted friends, including Mr Jayakanthan-led Indian-Russian Culture and Friendship Society and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With such influential partners by our side, we can move mountains!
On presenting this high award of Russia, I would like to wish you, dear friend, further success in the noble cause of promoting Russian-Indian amity, new creative achievements, sound health and prosperity, and well-being to the talented people of Tamil Nadu.