In the field of culture, the relationship between India and Serbia has always been co-operative and vibrant. Catering to the deep-rooted interest in Indian culture in Serbia, several cultural activities have been undertaken by the Embassy from time to time, with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Serbian Ministry of Culture. An Agreement on Cooperation in the fields of Culture, Education and Sports was signed between India and Serbia on 20 September 2002 when the former Indian Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, Shri Vinod Khanna visited Belgrade.
During the year the following cultural activities were organized in Serbia by the Embassy of India:

1. Kathak Dance Troupe: A six-member Kathak Dance Troupe led by Shri Ashim Bandhu Bhattacharjee visited Serbia from 31st March to 7th April 2004 and performed at Belgrade, Smederevo, Leskovac and Novi Sad. The performances were well received and there were demands from the local populace for more such visits.

2. Odissi Dance Troupe: An 11-member Odissi Dance troupe led by Shri Gangadhar Pradhan visited Serbia and Montenegro from July 5-8, 2004 and performed at Belgrade, Nis and Bar.

3. Indian Film Festival: A festival of Indian Films was organized by the Mission in Serbia and Montenegro in April 2004 with a package of 8 films screened in Belgrade, Nis, Podgorica and Pristina.
In April 2005, another festival of Indian films from the black and white era was held at Kinoteka. In this festival, films of many great directors of international repute were screened. The films included such masterpieces as Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Devi and Apu Sansar; Ritwik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara and Komal Gandhar ; Guru Dutt’s Pyasa, Sahib Bibi aur Gulam and Kagaz ke Phool; Raj Kapoor’s Aawara and Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen.

4. Days of Indian Culture Festival: The Embassy organized ‘Days of Indian Culture’ Festival in Belgrade from 1 November 2004 to 31 January 2005. The Festival comprised an Exhibition-Cum-Sale of Indian Handlooms and Handicrafts by the HHEC, a fortnight of Indian Cuisine at the Hyatt Regency Hotel courtesy of the Department of Tourism (GOI) which sponsored two chefs, performances by the Kuchipudi Dance Troupe of Ms. Deepika Reddy, the Classical Music Troupe of Shri Johar Ali, both sponsored by the ICCR and an exhibition of pieces of Contemporary Indian Art, sponsored by the Lalit Kala Akademi. Talks on Ayurveda and a demonstration on Yoga were organized. A package of 10 Indian films sent by the Directorate of Film Festivals was screened in two different halls for 10 days in November-December 2004. The Aakar Group of Puppets led by Shri Puran Bhatt performed on 13 and 14 December 2004, and an Exhibition of Indian Dolls and Dresses from the Shankar’s International Dolls Museum of New Delhi was held from 10 December 2004 to 10 January 2005. Both activities were sponsored by the ICCR. An exhibition of photographs of Buddhist sites in India sent by the XP Division of MEA was held in the Vojvodina province of Serbia.

5. Visit of Pinokio Theatre Troupe to India: A three-member Puppet troupe from the Pinokio Theatre, Belgrade performed in India for 10 days from 12 March to 1st April 2005. The visit was hosted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). The troupe performed in three Indian cities - Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata.

6. Visit of Woodwind Trio from the Belgrade Philharmonic to India: A three member group of musicians from the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra went to India in April 2005 and gave performances in Delhi and Mussoorie on 26 and 28 April respectively. Their performances were very well received.

7. Visit of Bharatnatyam Dance Troupe: The Bharatnatyam Troupe of Smt. Uma B. Ramesh which visited Serbia and Montenegro in July 2005 performed in Belgrade, Nis, Niska Banja, Babusnica, Kragujevac, Sivac, Pancevo, Novi Sad, Subotica and Bar.

8. World Shooting Competition: A 15-member Shooting Team from India took part in the World Cup Shooting Competition held in Belgrade from 15 to 20 July.

9. Visit of Princess Elizabeth Karadjodjevic to India: Princess Elizabeth of Serbia visited India from 19 February to 3 March, 2006 as a guest of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) under its programme of inviting ‘Distinguished Visitors’. During her visit, the Princess met with many eminent personalities and toured many places of historical and spiritual interest.

10. On 2nd October, a photo exhibition DAY OF NON -VIOLENCE on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi birthday was held in Belgrade. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Association of Professional Photographers at their photo gallery close to the Walking Street in the heart of Belgrade. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Minister of Culture of Serbia and also present were State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, diplomats, representatives of the media and cultural organizations. A 40-minute documentary on Gandhi was also screened on the occasion.

11. On 3rd December, 2008, The Archives of Serbia and Montenegro during an exhibition in November-December, 2008 displayed the documents related to the Non aligned Movement which included photos and messages of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The  Acting Director of Archives discussed with Ambassador about the future cooperation possibilities between The National Archives of India and the Archives of Serbia and Montenegro including jointly organizing an  exhibition of photos and documents commemorating 50th anniversary of NAM in 2011.

12. A festival of Indian films was held in Belgrade from 22nd May to 27th May, 2009. The festival was inaugurated with the screening of film ‘Ami Iyasin ar Amar Madhubala’ directed by Budhadeb Dasgupta. Other films shown at the festival were Gafla, Summer 2007, Kayyoppu, Billa and Bayo.

13. To coincide with the 3rd Anniversary Celbrations of Montenegro’s Independence Day, in cooperation with Sri Chinmoy Centre of Montenegro, Evenings of Indian Culture, comprising presentations of Indian classical music on Sitar and Tabla, Bharatanatyam dances, video and slide presentations, and Photo Exhibition of Mahatma Gandhi were organized in the Montenenegrin cities of Bar, Podgorica, Kotor and Budva. These events were held between 21st to 24th May, 2009. The events were widely covered by print as well as electronic media. In Bar and Podgorica, Ambassador was interviewed by local TV channels.

14. Sahaj Marg, Art of Living and Local chapters of Meditation Yoga of Serbia jointly organized an event titled ‘Let Go’ at International Cultural Centre, Belgrade on 16th and 17th May, 2009 to coincide with the annual ‘Museum Night’ celebrated all over Europe.

15. A photo exhibition titled “Faces of India” by Mr. Milos Blanusa, Secretary of Serbia-India Friendship Society was held on 16th May, 2009 at Kalemegdan fort, Belgrade. On the occasion musical band “Kamala” played Indian music before the opening of exhibition. Ambassador and the President of Serbia-India Friendhip Society spoke on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador complimented the society for promoting different aspects of Indian culture in Serbia and further strengthening friendship between the people of Serbia and India.

16. A festival of Indian films was held in Novi Sad, Serbia and Nis, Serbia from 28th May to 02nd June, 2009 and 11th to 13th June, 2009 respectively. The films shown were Ami Iyasin Ar Amar Madhubala, Gafla, Summer 2007, Kayyoppu, Billa and Bayo. These films were subtitled in Serbian language.

Embassy of India Belgrade


Press Release     19 January 2009



The Embassy of India in Belgrade has great pleasure in announcing the signing of the Programme of Cooperation in the field of culture for the years 2009-2011 between India and Serbia. The signing ceremony took place earlier today at the Serbian Ministry of Culture in the presence of senior officials from both the sides. The document was signed on behalf of the Government of Serbia by H.E. Mr. Nebojsa Bradic, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and by the Ambassador of India, H.E. Mr. Ajay Swarup on behalf of India. This followed from the Agreement of Cooperation in the fields of Culture, Education and Sports signed on September 20, 2002. The programme provides for the participation of ensembles, artists and soloists from both the countries to take part in international festivals and events in the field of music, dance, theatre, and films etc. Under the terms of cooperation programme, the two sides can also exchange exhibitions of contemporary fine arts and encourage interactions between writers and other literary personalities besides cooperation between the libraries, museums, publishing houses, archives, broadcasting organisations, press agencies, media organizations, institutions protecting cultural heritage and other cultural entities through exchange of information, delegations, participation in fairs, festivals and other events. The concerned institutions in both the countries would remain in touch with each other to plan and organize various activities under the programme of cooperation.

Ambassador of India, Mr. Ajay Swarup, while drawing attention to the close bonds of friendship and cooperation existing between the two countries including the cultural exchanges taking place for the past several decades, expressed the hope that this programme of cooperation in the field of culture would further strengthen bilateral relations and bring the people of the two countries still closer together. Given the deep mutual interest in each other’s cultural heritage and traditions and tremendous goodwill and feelings of friendship so happily existing between the people of the two countries, this Programme of Cooperation would stimulate further interest and awareness and would contribute positively in increasing mutual understanding and people to people contacts.

H.E. Mr. Nebojsa Bradic, referring to traditional and age old ties of friendship between India and Serbia expressed great happiness on the conclusion of the Programme of Cooperation in the field of culture and said that it would act like a bridge in linking the cultural institutions, artists, performers and other professionals in the cultural fields to share each other’s artistic talents and experience for the enjoyment of people in both the countries. He also expressed the hope that the activities provided for in the programme would start taking shape soon and all planned events would be implemented within the stipulated time frame.

STUDY OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA



India has an excellent network of English-medium schools and colleges, universities and technical institutions. Thousands of foreign students study in Indian universities and technical institutions. The academic session in India normally commences in July or August and admissions are generally on the basis of written examinations and/or interviews. Some universities/technical institutions reserve a limited number of seats for foreign students which are given on the basis of the applicant's academic record. Applications for schools are generally accepted in May or June. Applications for universities and technical institutions are normally accepted in April or May. Some institutions ask for applications in March for post-graduate or research courses.

For further information, please contact:
Association of Indian Universities, AIU Marg,

New Delhi Phone: (91-11)23230059 Fax: (91-11)23236106)



SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY



An agreement on cooperation in the field of Science and Technology between India and Serbia was signed on 28 October 2004 in Belgrade. Minister of State for Science and Technology, Shri Kapil Sibal and H.E. Mr. Vuk Draskovic, Foreign Minister of Serbia signed the agreement on behalf of Government of India and the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro respectively.
A Programme of Cooperation between the two Governments in the field of S&T was further signed on 23rd of May 2008 for initiating the implementation of the Agreement.



VISA

Visa is essential for all Indian visitors to Serbia. Those desirous of visiting Serbia and Montenegro for whatever purpose should obtain appropriate visa from its Embassy in New Delhi located at 3/50, Niti Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021: Tel: 2687 3661, 2687 2073.
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