New Delhi, September 12, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presentation of a Russian translation of the Thirukkural to Russian President Vladimir Putin is being seen as another example of his efforts to showcase India’s rich cultural and literary heritage on the global stage.
Modi gifted Putin the Russian edition of the celebrated Tamil classic on Friday during the Russian President’s visit to India for the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
“This is not the first time PM Modi has taken our culture global!” said ‘Modi Story’, an initiative that documents the Prime Minister’s work and thoughts through the accounts of people who have had glimpses into his life.
The Thirukkural, attributed to the renowned Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar, is a timeless work dealing with ethics, politics and love. Its Russian translation, according to the post, carries the wisdom of the classic across linguistic and geographical boundaries.
The post also highlighted Modi’s efforts at the 2019 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit to promote Indian literature internationally. Quoting former Sahitya Akademi Secretary K. Sreenivasan, it said an initiative was undertaken to translate 10 modern Indian literary works into Russian, Chinese and English to make them accessible to wider audiences.
Sreenivasan said the initiative created space for Indian culture, literature and languages on international platforms.
He recalled that in 2020, the External Affairs Ministry and the Ministry of Culture were approached and a list of 10 books was prepared for translation into the three languages. The books were subsequently released during the SCO process in 2020-21, when India held the organisation’s chairmanship and the summit was conducted virtually because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I want to say this to tell how he is concerned about Indian literature, Indian languages even in the international platform,” Sreenivasan said.
The post also recalled that during Putin’s India visit in December 2025, Modi had presented him with a Russian edition of the Bhagavad Gita.
It described Modi’s cultural diplomacy as an effort to place Indian heritage and literature prominently before international audiences.
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