Universities from Russia and India have come together to celebrate and promote the Russian language in India as part of a 4-day event in New Delhi and Chennai.
Set to run from November 23, the 'Days of the Russian Language in India' event will see the academic staff of Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) visit Russian Houses in New Delhi and Chennai, Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Blue Bells School and Madras University.
The programme will focus on issues such as the current position of the Russian language, innovative forms and techniques of teaching Russian as a foreign language, and the current position of Russian culture, literature, and translation studies.
The event has been commissioned by the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).
Currently, 258 million people speak Russian, which is the working language in 15 major international organisations, including the United Nations. The language also boasts of having the second-highest number of websites. It ranks fifth in the number of scientific publications in the Web of Science and Scopus databases.