'Friendship of Ganga and Volga': Rector of University of Delhi Delivers a Lecture for Students of HSE University-St Petersburg
The honoured guest of the HSE St Petersburg International Week was Yogesh Singh, rector of the University of Delhi. He held a discussion with employees of two international mirror laboratories and also delivered an open lecture for students and professors of HSE University 'India-Russia: Friendship of Ganga and Volga'.
'We have gathered here to strengthen the relations which are poetic in spirit, historical in depth and young in their potential', this is how Anna Tyshetskaya, director of HSE University-St Petersburg, started the meeting with professor Singh. 'The University of Delhi is one of the largest in the world. It comprises more than 90 colleges and institutes, and the number of students exceeds 400 thousand people'.
The rector of the University of Delhi drew a parallel between the Ganga and Volga—two great rivers around which the most ancient civilizations were formed. Through them, according to the professor, one can understand the spiritual proximity of the people of Russia and India.
In his speech, he reminded the listeners that the friendship between the two countries was not pragmatic but civilizational. It had started long before the social networks appeared. For instance, in the USSR, the generation of today’s students' parents listened to Indian music and watched films with Raj Kapoor. Millions of Indians grew up reading books translated from Russian and published by the Moscow publishing house 'Mir'. 'In childhood and adolescence, we read about Aleksey Maresyev. This is the story of virile courage which inspired a whole generation of Indians. We still remember the names of these Russian heroes', says professor Singh.
Yogesh Singh
Rector of the University of Delhi
International partnership is an integral part of a modern university. The word 'university' itself has the base 'universe'—it shows the global scope of knowledge. Universities must teach and hire people from different countries. It expands the cross-cultural exchange, encourages new ideas and helps to find answers to common challenges together. At the University of Delhi, over the past decades, we have become much more open to international students. I am happy that among them are students from Russia. They feel comfortable in India—and we are very proud of it.
Professor Singh encouraged students to be 'a bridge between Ganga and Volga' and offered to increase the cooperation between the universities even more. He specifically highlighted the areas in which India and Russia could enhance their partnership: artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, sustainable development, cultural studies, international law and public policy. The rector also underscored that the University of Delhi would be glad to welcome students of HSE University for exchange programmes and joint research.
During his visit to HSE University-St Petersburg, professor Singh visited two research laboratories. The researchers from the mirror laboratory of HSE University-St Petersburg, the University of Delhi and the company 'Geoscan' talked about the latest development of automatically piloted vehicles and digital ground models. In the Laboratory of Natural Language, the rector saw a neural network model which can recognise emotions through photos and videos and a method which, based on the analysis of short videos, defines a personality type and offers the most suitable professions. During the visit, the researchers of the laboratory prepared a personalised digital avatar which preserves the appearance of the person with synchronised articulation, hand movements and speech. The professor emphasised how up-to-date and important such research developments were and expressed his interest in further cooperation.
Yogesh Singh also met the participants of the expedition to the Himalayas. He was shown photos and a short film about the research on climate changes in India made by students and professors of the School of Social Sciences, HSE University-St Petersburg. The professor highlighted the importance of such field projects and expressed his interest in even more academic exchanges between the universities.
The University of Delhi was founded in 1922. It is a state and 'central' university of India as well as one of the largest university systems in the world. The university occupies 328th place in the global ranking 'QS World University Rankings 2025'.