India–Lithuania relations

India–Lithuania relations

India
Lithuania

India recognized Lithuania (along with the other Baltic States of Latvia and Estonia) on September 7, 1991, after they declared independence from the Soviet Union.  Diplomatic relations between India and Lithuania were established on 25 February 1992.

Lithuania opened its Embassy in New Delhi on July 1, 2008, and has three honorary consulates in India, i.e., in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata. The Embassy of India in Warsaw was concurrently accredited to Lithuania till March 2023 with an honorary consulate in Vilnius since 2015.

An Indian Embassy was established in Vilnius in March 2023.

Early history

India's first contact with Lithuania was through Lithuanian Christian missionaries who traveled to India in the 16th century. Lithuanian interest in India grew in the 19th century after the similarity between Sanskrit and Lithuanian was discovered.[1] Among the languages of Europe, Lithuanian is grammatically closest to Sanskrit. Lithuanians regard their language to be the oldest living Indo-European language.[1][2][3]

Vydūnas, known as the Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo of Lithuania, was interested in Indian philosophy, and created his own philosophical system closely based on the Vedanta. Vydunas stated that Lithuanian spiritual culture, prior to the introduction of Christianity, shared similarities with Hinduism, including the concept of trimūrti.[1]

Economic relations

In 2022-23, the bilateral trade between India and Lithuania stood at US$ 471.68 million. India's top export products to Lithuania include: pharmaceutical products, electrical machinery & equipment, fish & other seafood, plastic products and textiles. India's top import products from Lithuania include: Iron & Steel, Misc. chemical products, rubber and articles thereof, animal & vegetable fats and oils, wood products, electrical machinery and equipment, etc.

Cultural relations

There is growing interest in Lithuania for Indian dance and music, Bollywood, yoga, ayurveda, and the works of Rabindranath Tagore.[1][3] The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is present in Lithuania.

Indian diaspora in Lithuania

The Indian community in Lithuania is a small but vibrant and diverse group of people made up of students, professionals, businessmen, and their families. This community has been growing steadily in recent years. There are around 7000 Indians in Lithuania, with a majority of them being students pursuing higher education in Lithuania's universities.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "India-Lithuania Relations" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Incredible Indian-Lithuanian relations". vilnews.com. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b "India must stand true to its promise of an embassy in Vilnius made in 2005: Lithuania foreign minister". The Times of India. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Latest Migration Yearbook - key statistics". migracija.lrv.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2026-03-21.
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