Narrative of scientific progress from a narrow perspective: Jaishankar at the opening ceremony of the mathematics exhibition

The exhibition titled “From Sunya to Ananta – Indian Civilization’s Contribution to Mathematics” is organized by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations and organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in collaboration with the India International Centre.

“When we gather at the United Nations, we often talk about our common human heritage. However, if we look back at the trajectory of modern history, we find that for too long the global narrative of scientific progress has been viewed through the narrow lens of time and geography,” Jaishankar said while inaugurating a “historic and unprecedented” mathematics exhibition at the United Nations headquarters on Monday.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Indian Ambassador to the United States Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Consul General of India in New York Binaya Pradhan, Princeton University mathematics professor and Fields Medal winner Manjul Bhargava, as well as UN ambassadors, diplomats and senior officials.

“As the geopolitical churning brings about a political and economic rebalancing, it will inevitably pave the way for a cultural rebalancing. This will be achieved by creating space for diverse narratives, including a fuller understanding of our past,” he said.

Jaishankar will pay official visits to Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago from May 2 to 10.

During a brief visit to New York on Monday, he inaugurated the exhibition, which is part of the India International Center’s project ‘SAMHiTA’, which is supported by the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

This special interactive exhibit highlights ancient mathematical concepts that originated in India and spread throughout the world over thousands of years—from zero, decimal place value systems, algebra, and algorithms to planetary models, astronomical calculations, combinatorics, binary enumerations, and geometry—the “Baudhayana-Pythagoras Theorem.”

The exhibition also honors the lineage of legendary Indian scholars Aryabhata, Brahmagupta and Bhaskara with the Kerala Academy of Astronomy and Mathematics.

“We gathered here are not just looking at numbers on a wall. We are looking at a civilization that originated from the intellectual soil of India. This is a legacy that is as much about the past as it is about the future,” Jaishankar said.

He stressed the need to recognize that “the democratization of technology and, indeed, the democratization of the world requires the democratization of history. Only by correcting the distortions of the past can we accurately solve the problems of the future,” he said.

The exhibition will take viewers on a “journey spanning millennia to witness how the mathematical discoveries of Indian civilizations have traveled across the world and continue to shape our modern lives.”

Jaishankar said that while the global spread of mathematics is an interconnected story, every supply chain of ideas has a starting point.

“When you visit this exhibition, you will notice that the code that is the basis of our current technological era was conceptualized in India centuries ago,” he said.

Regarding the importance of this exhibition to the United Nations, he said: “A diverse and democratic collective cannot be built on a single-dimensional narrative. As we embark on the journey of artificial intelligence, these truths will become increasingly obvious, and our mastery of the past will benefit from the tools of the future.”

He hopes the exhibition will raise awareness and spark a debate about “the richness of our inherently diverse world”. This will also help set aside biases and assumptions about embracing technology in today’s era.

“This exhibition reminds us that mathematics is a universal language and its dissemination has and will continue to serve global interests. The United Nations, as the most established platform for international cooperation, can use this message to advocate for closer international cooperation,” he said.

Ambassador Harish Parvathanini, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, said that mathematics is universal and has been enriched by the contributions of different human civilizations.

“It connects humanity rather than divides humanity,” Parvathaneni said, adding that the exhibition “traces our fundamental concepts” such as zero, base ten, algebra, trigonometry and early concepts of infinity as they spread across cultures from India to the wider world.

The exhibition reminds the world that mathematics in India has never been limited to abstraction but has shaped art, architecture, music and cultural expression and remains a living and evolving tradition.

Parvatanini emphasized that India has always made its knowledge available to the world. “In today’s parlance, openness has been the mantra of India since ancient times.”

The exhibition, which will be held at United Nations Headquarters from May 11 to 15, connects these ancient insights to the present day, he said, adding that the same principles now underpin computing algorithms, GPS and artificial intelligence, showing that “what we think of as modern innovations often have deep historical roots”.

The Indian envoy said: “This exhibition invites us to consider India’s mathematical heritage as the common heritage of humanity. It emphasizes the value of knowledge exchange and reminds us that progress is achieved through collaboration across cultures and generations.”

The Permanent Mission of India said the exhibition aims to showcase India’s rich heritage of thinking, applying and developing mathematics over two thousand years.

It shows that ideas born in the Indian subcontinent through ancient mathematical works remain relevant today, underpinning the technology and science that shape contemporary global life.

The exhibition aims to highlight that while the influence of mathematics is global, India’s contribution to its formation is “unique and fundamental”.

“The same insights that scholars expressed in Sanskrit verses, an early iteration of binary code, now permeate the world’s digital infrastructure,” the report said.

This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.