New Delhi: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said that India's emergence as a global power must be complemented by a parallel rise in its intellectual and cultural gravitas, rooted in indigenous knowledge systems and civilizational values.

Addressing the inaugural Annual Conference on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) in the capital, the Vice-President emphasised that the strength of a nation lies not just in its economic or military might but in the originality of its thought and the timelessness of its values.

“India is not merely a political entity formed in the mid-20th century—it is a civilizational continuum, a flowing river of consciousness, inquiry, and learning,” Dhankhar said, while lamenting the historical marginalisation of indigenous wisdom.

He criticised colonial-era education for replacing critical thinking with rote learning and reducing centres of knowledge into training grounds for clerks. “The Indian knowledge system was stunted and subverted. Grades replaced contemplation. Our universities once produced sages, now they produce yeomen,” he observed.

The Vice-President underlined the need for a genuine IKS research ecosystem that honours both ancient texts and lived experiences. He called for urgent action to digitise classical Indian texts in languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, Pali, and Prakrit, and to make them widely accessible for scholars.

Quoting Max Müller, he reiterated the intellectual depth of India's past, noting that its wisdom should inspire innovation, not obstruct it. “Spiritual insight can coexist with scientific precision,” he said, urging for an integration of traditional and contemporary knowledge.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, JNU Vice Chancellor Prof. Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, and other dignitaries were also present at the event.