In the center of New Delhi, a monument to the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy has been installed, and the street on which it is located is named after him, Tolstoy Marg. The sculpture was created by Yuri Chernov and was installed in 1994 during the visit of Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to India.

Leo Tolstoy (1828, 1910) was beloved by many Indian thinkers and himself showed interest in the East. At university, he initially chose the Eastern department of the philosophy faculty, focusing on the Turkish-Arab direction.

Mahatma Gandhi, who corresponded with Tolstoy for a year, was fascinated by his concept of non-resistance to evil by violence and ideas about love as the highest goal. In his letters, Gandhi referred to himself as "Your humble follower" and to Tolstoy as "Your friend and brother." Both rejected violence, praised righteousness, and manual labor.

The monument to Leo Tolstoy is located near the Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan building at the intersection of Tolstoy Marg and Janpath. It is surrounded by shrubs and trees, and the writer's name is inscribed on the pedestal in Hindi and Russian. Russian authorities have repeatedly asked their Indian counterparts to monitor the condition of the monument.