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India to have big presence in Europe: Karan Singh  (INTERVIEW)
By Manish Chand, Indo-Asian News Service 

New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) Karan Singh, scholar, politician and poet who now heads the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is visibly excited about a 'Festival of India' in Europe next year that will showcase the country's rich cultural diversity and pluralistic traditions.

This is Singh's idea of cultural diplomacy - which he calls the integral third stream of diplomacy besides political and economic diplomacy. 

"Our next big festival is going to be in Brussels in 2006. I don't want to send just magnificent Bharatanatyam dancers to this festival but also a pop group," Singh, scion of the ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Kashmir, told IANS in an interview. 

"I am a rock music addict. Let them also go there; they are also part of Indian culture. The idea is to have an entire spectrum of our cultural activities represented at the festival," says Singh, who is keen on using the ICCR as an instrument of the country's cultural diplomacy. 

"We will have a big presence in Europe next year. This festival will not just be confined to Brussels but will have some of its segments moving to Finland, Austria and France," Singh said at his newly renovated office at Azad Bhavan, the ICCR headquarters. 

"In Frankfurt, which holds one of the largest book fairs in the world, the focus will be on India next year," he adds. 

The man who calls cultural diplomacy the Saraswati - "the mythical third stream without which the Triveni (the confluence of three rivers) is not complete" -- is predictably excited about a vision of projecting India's vibrant pluralistic culture abroad. 

For a start, he wants to focus on opening new cultural centres in Kathmandu, Kabul, the Gulf (preferably at Abu Dhabi) and Washington. 

"We have 17 to 18 cultural centres abroad. My pet baby is a cultural centre in Washington. I have been trying to establish it since I was an ambassador to the US 15 years ago. I hope I succeed this time," says Singh. 

Another area where he wishes to make a difference is to use his global reach in the world of intelligentsia to invite thinkers and artists of stature to India under a revamped distinguished visitors' programme managed by the ICCR. 

Singh's scholarship, his eclectic range of interests and deep insights into the mind-boggling diversity of Indian culture is perhaps what makes him a natural choice for leading the ICCR. 

"What I want to project abroad is the image of a multi-faceted, pluralistic, dynamic and democratic India which has its roots in the past (which we by no means are prepared to jettison) but which is reaching out to the future." 

His idea of India is, therefore, large, liberal and all encompassing, much like his generous interpretation of the myriad legacy of Hinduism. 

"India is a very rich pluralistic nation: it's multicultural, multilingual, multi-religious. India is what the European Union is trying to become. What the EU is trying to become, we already are. 

"We already have as many languages as Europe, we have thrice as many people as the EU has and we have twice as many religions. 

"India has been one of the great originating centres of world culture. Therefore, cultural diplomacy should be one of our strong suits," the 74-year-old pioneer of inter-faith dialogue says. 

"What I would like to see is India playing its due role in the emerging global society. We should not simply be dragged screaming into the global society; we should be one of the leaders of the emerging global society," says Singh, who has authored at least a dozen books on various aspects of Indian culture. 

For a man born to the ways of royalty, Singh exhibits a remarkable sympathy for the democratic impulse. 

"We don't want just the elitist Delhi, but we also want younger people and the middle class to come into the cultural ambience," says Singh, unveiling his plan of converting Azad Bhavan into a vibrant cultural hub.