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 language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

on 22 June 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 Hindus, Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figu ...

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

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

was the patron of the Organisation Committee.

Bhupesh Gupta Bhupesh Gupta () (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 parliamentarians in Rajya Sabha. He was elected on 13 May 1952 as a ...

and

Jyoti Basu Jyoti Basu (born Jyotirindra Basu; 8 July 1914 – 17 January 2010) was an Indian Marxist theorist, communist activist, and politician. He was one of the most prominent leaders of Communist movement in India. He served as the 6th and longest ...

were active in mobilizing support for the organization. A second conference of the organisation was held in April 1944, presided by Nellie Sengupta. At a convention held in the Convocation Hall of

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

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 ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. 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 C ...

, 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 12 March 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 Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. 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 (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

, 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