India’s Soft Power

Soft power is one of the key components of foreign policy in this age of mass communication, global trade and tourism. This soft power includes cultural factors, sharing the intellectual, artistic and spiritual culture of a country with the other nations of the world. Soft power is part of what we can perhaps better call “cultural diplomacy”, using culture to create a favorable foreign policy image for a country to expand its associations and its interests.

Recent Developments

Government links Pravasi Bharatiya Divas with Kumbh

  • The date of biennial observation of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas was shifted from January 7-9 to 21-23rd January to maximise the experience of the visiting guests. The 15th PBD conference in 2019 was held at Varanasi that coincided with Kumbh Mela and was organised close to the site of the ‘Ardh Kumbh’ in Prayagraj. The participants of the PBD got an experience of Kumbh and were taken to Delhi to witness the Republic Day parade. The theme of PBD 2019 was “Role of Indian Diaspora in building a New India”.
  • President Ram Nath Kovind conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards on 30 members of diaspora, including 2 organisations belonging to 23 countries. Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth was the chief guest this year

Sharp Power: A New Diplomacy

  • Some Western political scientists have come up with the prevalence of a different power dynamic in the sphere of international relations, which they describe as ‘Sharp Power’.
  • According to these academicians, ‘authoritarian states’ like Russia and China employ techniques of influence that may not be considered either ‘hard’ in an openly coercive sense or ‘soft’ as they are neither benign nor persuasive in their methods. In fact, far from using attraction and persuasion, their attempt is supposed to cause distraction and manipulation.
  • According to the proponents of this new concept some countries “pierce, penetrate, or perforate the political and information environments in the targeted countries,” and thus their method of influence is neither ‘soft’ nor hard’ but ‘sharp’.
  • These political scientists particularly blame China and Russia for using ‘sharp power’ to promote their national interests in the international sphere.

India’s Soft Power

It was in the early 90s when American political scientist Joseph Nye introduced the concept of ‘soft power’ later Harvard professor introduced another concept ‘smart power’ as an extension. Cultural Diplomacy is an important instrument of foreign policy. It helps in promoting international links with countries and people around the globe.

India has recognized the importance of Cultural Diplomacy as a part of its soft power strategy in promoting its national interest and establishing itself as a dominant regional and global power. The basic principal of Cultural Diplomacy is to support foreign policy by the deployment of culture to pursue national interest.

Areas of Soft Power for India

Religion

  • India, which is also called the land of gods, has given birth to several of the world’s great religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Christianity reached India before it reached Rome and Islam is also widely practiced, due to the historical presence of Islamic powers in the country.
  • The peaceful propagation of Buddhism is a multi-millennia old bond that India shares with the rest of the Asian continent. Indeed, the propagation of Buddhism from India is a testament to the power of its civilisational pull. India’s culture has absorbed all these religions, with its followers living in harmony with one another; it stands out as a true example of ‘unity in diversity.’ Given its ethnic diversity, India has a lot of potential to use this soft power to increase its cultural pull and to boost tourism.

Role of Buddhism in India’s Soft Power Strategy

Why Buddhism for Cultural Diplomacy?

  • In East Asia, Japan and South Korea began embracing their Buddhist heritage as they recovered in the decades following the end of the Second World War, as did a number of former members of the Soviet Union after the Cold War.
  • Today, 97 per cent of the world’s Buddhist population lives in the Asian continent, and a number of countries such as Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka conceive of Buddhism as intrinsic to their national values and identity.
  • It is within this context that one can understand the efforts of the Indian government at incorporating Buddhist heritage in order to form a basis for further diplomatic, economic, cultural, and strategic associations within its foreign policy.

Why India can take advantage to rise as a soft power?

Despite the fact that it is host to a relatively small population of Buddhists in terms of proportion, India is in a position to claim legitimacy in its promotion of Buddhist diplomacy for a number of reasons.

  • First, the Buddhist faith originated in India, therefore granting it singular historical legitimacy.
  • Second, India has numerous sites of importance to the Buddhist faith, such as Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Nalanda.
  • Third, India has nurtured an image of being a protector of the persecuted because of the presence of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in the city of Dharamshala following their failed insurrection against China.
  • In addition to ties with Tibetan Buddhism, historical links to Theravada Buddhism means that India is in a good position to further relations with other Buddhist countries and create conversation between multiple streams of this faith.

Engagement in Act East Policy

  • Successfully leveraging these associations with other Buddhist countries could have an impact beyond the realm of cultural diplomacy, and aid in other areas of foreign policy as well.
  • Interestingly, the relationship between Buddhism and state diplomacy is not a new one, and dates back to the days of Emperor Ashoka, who following his adoption of the religion began the practice of dharmavijaya or conquest through Dharma.
  • Deepening ties with Asian nations on the basis of Buddhism could potentially feed into larger policy objectives of the government, namely, the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, and the ‘Act East’ policy.

Yoga

  • A major upsurge of interest in Yoga and meditation occurred in the West in the nineteen sixties, with a steady growth since. Numerous Indian gurus have traveled throughout the world teaching Yoga and meditation, with Tibetan teachers often joining them.
  • Today perhaps over a hundred million people throughout the world practice some form of Yoga. Though asanas remain the main focus, pranayama, mantra and meditation are often included.
  • Yoga training programs routinely examine traditional Yoga texts like the Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita.
  • Many Yoga students follow gurus and lineages from India and take on Sanskrit names. Great gurus like Paramahansa Yogananda, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Satya Sai Baba, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mata Amritananda-mayi, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, and many others have become recognisable names in numerous countries. For their students, Yoga is not just a fitness system but a complete culture and way of life.

Strong Social Systems

  • India also has the potential to become a global hub for education and healthcare. Globally, India is regarded as a knowledge-producing machine with its doctors, engineers, scientists, and software professionals being the first preference of the international community. Indian education is seen as being of high quality. India has some particular advantages in attracting students through low annual tuition fees, a low cost of living and the well-established presence of the English language.
  • The Indian healthcare industry also seems to be growing at a rapid pace and is expected to become a $280 billion industry by 2020. India is quickly becoming a hub for medical tourists seeking quality healthcare at an affordable cost. Reduced costs, access to the latest medical technology, growing compliance with international quality standards and the ease of communication—all these work to India’s advantage.
  • India’s film industry is probably the largest and farthest-reaching medium for spreading Indian culture, surpassing Hollywood with an annual output of over 1000 movies. Although India produces over 1,500 films annually, the country’s share in global cinema revenue is a mere 1%. Both India’s film industry and the government have done little to leverage the power of Bollywood and other regional cinema industries globally.
  • Lastly, the biggest instrument of India’s soft power is the large diaspora across different continents, which can support the policies of the Indian government through the influence and respect they command in the countries in which they live.

Significance of Cultural Diplomacy

Understanding each other: It involves an attempt to promote values and image of a country amongst other foreign audiences as well as try to understand values, culture and image of other countries and their people.

Interaction amongst one another: Through cultural diplomacy, governments of various countries can increase their respect and understanding amongst other countries of the world.

People to people contact: There are many benefits of cultural diplomacy programs. For e.g. cultural diplomacy programs can create forums for interaction between people of different countries, thus laying the ground for the forging friendships and strong connections between people of different nationalities.

Trust factor: Cultural diplomacy helps create a “foundation of trust” with other peoples. Policy makers can build on this trust to create political, economic, and military agreements.

Remove Ignorance: Cultural diplomacy programs can also act as a deterrent against ignorance and baseless hatred that people in other countries may bear towards a certain country.

Helping Each Other: Cultural diplomacy can also help to advance the interests of other countries, not just the interests of the country carrying out the diplomacy. The cultural diplomacy of India, for instance, “with its heavy focus on providing scholarships to students from neighbouring countries to study in India, serves to advance India’s interests and those of its neighbours, as well as the interests of the students themselves.”

Individual Promotion: Cultural diplomacy incorporates activities undertaken by, or involving, a wide range of participants such as artists, singers and so on, but also the manifestations of their artistry (such as a film), the promotion of aspects of the culture of a state (language, for instance), and the exchange of people, such as academics.

India’s Current Initiatives

  • • Know India Program: To help familiarize Indian Diaspora youth, in the age group of 18-26 years, with developments and achievements made by the country and bringing them closer to the land of their ancestors. KIP provides a unique forum for students and young professionals of Indian Origin to visit India, share their views, expectations and experiences and to develop closer bonds with the contemporary India.
  • • Pravasibhartiya Divas (since 2003) – The Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas was introduced by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002 to recognise the untapped potential of India’s large diaspora network of approximately 25 million people. It is to connect India to its vast Indian Diaspora and bring their knowledge, expertise and skills on a common platform.
  • • Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) – It is a New Delhi based Indian think-tank. Established in 1943, it is devoted exclusively for the study of international relations and foreign affairs. By an Act of Parliament, it has been declared an institution of national importance in 2001. The Vice President of India is the ex-officio President of ICWA, while the Minister of External Affairs is its Vice-President. The ICWA organizes events, including organization of Academic Conferences.
  • • “Brand India”: It is a phrase used to describe the campaign India is using to attract business. Basically the campaign is to project the attractiveness of India as an emerging destination for business in the fields of service sector, manufacturing, information technology, infrastructure, information technology enabled services, etc. The campaign uses both India as huge market for products and services as well as a lucrative destination for investment. The federal government is spearheading the campaign with considerable cooperation from the stakeholders.

Challenges and Future Prospects

  • Limiting in Reach: Indian diplomacy has hitherto neglected soft power as an important tool of governance and has only recently understood the relevance of ‘cultural diplomacy’. India’s soft power seems to have limited geographical outreach as most of the foreign students studying in India come from the Middle East and neighbouring South Asian countries.
  • Lack of Infrastructure: India also lacks the required infrastructure to promote tourism. Prime international destinations such as the Taj Mahal do not have adequate facilities like good tourist guides, tourism packages, and sanitation. Various Hindu pilgrimage sites lack clean toilets, especially in places like Varanasi or Mathura.
  • Way Below with respect to Contemporaries: In a paper titled ‘The False Promise of India’s Soft Power’, Rohan Mukherjee attributes India’s soft power limitations to three central elements: India’s soft power resources are over-exaggerated, India does not have enough hard power to match its soft power, and finally, India is unsure about the type of power it wants to become.
  • Narrow Approach: Government of India’s impoverishment of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) means that India’s film industry participates in only a few international film festivals. Meanwhile, the government’s main focus has been to raise India’s profile as the home of yoga. While getting the United Nations to designate June 21 as International Yoga Day was a good start, the government has not done anything further to promote yoga-related tourism.
  • Reduction in Credibility: Lastly, India has to tackle its internal issues such as religious conflicts, gender-based violence, poverty, and ethnic to improve its perceived goodwill on the global platform.

Areas to Improve

  • India needs to invest more in its equivalent cultural institute, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), or create a newer, more youth-oriented institute. It wouldn’t hurt to also come up with a more memorable brand name.
  • India most certainly needs a world-class museum on par with the great museums of the world; the museum should be a repository for South Asia’s treasures, but also seek artifacts from all over the world. The museum should cater to both an international and domestic audience.
  • India should invest more in sports, and not only for the sake of winning more medals at the Olympics. As a large, topographically diverse country, it should encourage both domestic and international visitors, to partake in activities that they would otherwise have to fly to Europe or America for. For example, India has extensive mountain slopes and some skiing ranges, but it is not widely known as a skiing range. Like Iran, India can develop a major skiing culture, attracting would-be skiers from neighboring, warmer third-world countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
  • India should do a better job at crafting an image of itself and its history that goes beyond just the TajMahal and a few Rajput forts, both to increase tourism and draw tourists to all its states, and to increase interest in its culture and history among the average person in the West.
  • India makes more movies a year than any other country and Bollywood films are popular throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Yet, India has done little to convert this love of its movies (and songs) into a desire for people to go to India or learn more about it (like the way Japan has used anime to promote itself throughout the world). India needs better, more consistent marketing; it isn’t enough for the Prime Minister to travel the world to bring attention to India.

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