India has always had strong ties with the Baltic nations (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia), and even though the official diplomatic relations were established in 1992 with the opening of the Embassy of Lithuania in New Delhi, India, the first Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had said the following with regards to the Baltic nations in early 1950s: “North of Poland are the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, all successors of the Tsarist Empire. They are small states, but each is a distinct cultural entity with a separate language. You will be interested to know that the Lithuanians are Aryans (like many others in Europe) and their language bears quite a close resemblance to Sanskrit. This is a remarkable fact, which probably many people in India do not realize, and which brings home to us the bonds of which unite distant people.” 

“India and the Baltic Nations share deep cultural and historical bonds” – this idea has also been stated by scholars like Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Baltic writers and poets like Andrejs Pumpurs, Janis Rainis, Fr. Malbergh etc. Now it has become a widely shared feeling among many scholars, academicians, politicians, diplomats and the citizens of both India and the Baltic nations. This provided the necessary impetus for various joint academic activities to take place. In 1996, a separate center for the Indic studies, under the Department of Oriental Studies, was established at Vilnius University, Lithuania under the directorship of Professor A. Beinorius. The University of Latvia, Riga also took a similar initiative and an autonomous center for the Indic Studies was developed there under the directorship of Professor Sigma Ankrava in 2007. In January 2011, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Mykolas Romeris University (Vilnius) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to establish the first ever Chair of Indian Studies in the Baltic States. The Memorandum came into effect on 1 September 2011. 

The aforementioned efforts led to the signing of the MoUs between the Universities in the Baltic nations and some Indian Universities; i.e. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, University of Calcutta, and Dev Sanskriti University (DSVV), Haridwar; whereas, Dev Sanskriti University being the only University to have MoUs with both the University of Latvia and the Vilnius University. In order to enhance their cooperation, DSVV decided to open the first ever Baltic Centre for Culture and Studies (CBCS) in its premises. The CBCS was inaugurated on 07 August 2016 by Honorable Excellency Mr. Aivars Groza, Ambassador of Republic of Latvia, H. E. Mr. Laimonas Talat-Kelpša, Ambassador of Lithuania along with, H. E. Mr. Riho Kruuv, Ambassador of Estonia, Prof Ina Druviete, Vice Rector, University of Latvia, H. E. Mr. Krishna Kant Paul, Governor of Uttarakhand State, and the Hon. Chancellor of DSVV, Dr. Pranav Pandya.

As Asia’s first Baltic Centre, it stands as a hub of cooperation between the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and India through its various areas of work. Administratively, it functions as a subunit of the Pt. Shriram Sharma Research Foundation of DSVV, and aims at

developing International Education and Research activities including Baltic Sea Region studies for exchange as well as visiting students. The centre aims to develop dual degree programmes as well as the necessary cooperation networks through its partner institutions to support its underlying objectives.