The Indian Society for Cultural Co-operation and Friendship (ISCUF) is an organization in India promoting people-to-people cultural understanding and friendship. The organization was initially known as the Friends of the Soviet Union and, later, the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society (ISCUS).Indian Society for Cultural Co-operation and Friendship.
Indian Friendship Movement: Short Historical Background
' The Friends of the Soviet Union was founded in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

on June 22, 1941, the same day as Germany attacked the Soviet Union.''Vietnam+''.
Vietnam-India friendship, exchange programmes promoted
' An Organisation Committee was formed with Bhupendra Nath Dutta (

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

's younger brother) as the chairman, and, Hiren Mukherjee and S.K. Acharya as secretaries. The poet

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

was the patron of the Organisation Committee.

Bhupesh Gupta Bhupesh Gupta ( bn, ভূপেশ গুপ্ত) (20 October 1914 – 6 August 1981) was an Indian politician and a leader of the Communist Party of India., He was one of the senior communist leaders and parliamentarian in Rajya Sabha. ...

and Jyoti Basu were active in mobilizing support for the organization. A second conference of the organisation was held in April 1944, presided by

Nellie Sengupta Nellie Sengupta (''née'' Edith Ellen Gray; 12 January 1884 – 23 October 1973) was an Englishwoman who fought for Indian Independence. She was the first woman Alderman for Calcutta and was elected president of the Indian National Congress at ...

. At a convention held in the Convocation Hall of

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

June 3–4, 1944 the organisation became the 'All India Friends of the Soviet Union'. Some 2,000 people took part in the event, out of whom a hundred were delegates. In 1944 the organization began publishing ''Indo-Soviet Journal'' from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. The organization developed close collaboration with its Soviet counterpart

VOKS VOKS (an acronym for the Russian ''Vsesoiuznoe Obshchestvo Kul'turnoi Sviazi s zagranitsei'' — Всесоюзное общество культурной связи с заграницей, All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Co ...

, and conducted various cultural activities. The organization promoted the

Asian Relations Conference The Asian Relations Conference was an international conference that took place in New Delhi from 23 March to 2 April, 1947. Organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), the Conference was hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Vice-P ...

of 1946, and participated in the event. On March 12, 1952, the organization was reconstituted as ISCUS at a convention at Sunderbhai Hall in Bombay, with Dr. A.V. Baliga as the new chairman of the ISCUS National Council. ISCUS transformed into ISCUF in 1993, following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. In 2017 ISCUF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with th
Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations
(VUFO), outlining cooperation for the period 2017–2022. In December 2018 ISCUF held its 22nd National Conference in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

, with participation from the embassies of Cuba, Russia and Vietnam.''Times of India''.
Foreign delegates at city conference emphasise friendly relations with India
'

References

India friendship associations Soviet Union friendship associations Civic and political organisations of India India–Soviet Union relations Communist Party of India mass organisations {{Soviet-stub