Prime Minister Narendra Modi has significantly enhanced India’s soft power on the global stage through various strategic initiatives.
India is one such country that the entire global community has some eagerness to know more. The fact that Indian culture is extremely colourful and vibrant also adds to the attractiveness of India. For many, India comes as a riddle as they wonder how so very diverse communities can stay together for several millennia. While all these things would please every Indian as they are certainly very positive, they also are indicative of the fact that the global community’s knowledge and understanding about India is not commensurate with its global standing.
While there are multiple reasons for this, the principal reason has been India’s inexplicable apathy about asserting its very own cultural identity. A self-inflicted inferiority complex coupled with an essentially colonial mindset and a subtle but noticeable impact of the guilt of partition, plausibly made most of our national leadership in pre-2014 era shy in asserting our cultural identity. Initially, this guilt conscience was limited only to underplaying Hindu identity and symbolism as also pushing all the misdeeds of the invaders under the carpet. But later, the Muslim leadership in India which was deeply conscious of this guilt conscience of the ruling elites, cleverly started exploiting this needless element to the hilt. They not only became demanding but also started calling the shots. Whether it was the abrogation of Article 370 or the promulgation of Uniform Civil Code, many such provisions of the guiding principles of the Constitution were kept in the cold storage simply because of the veto power that Muslims were allowed to enjoy. Ironically, although the Hindutva and Hindu approach to human life acted as an eternal life-support for secularism, most ruling elites of India in the pre-2014 era tried to suppress Hindutva in the name of secularism. This amounted to many perversions creeping into our thinking, starting from needless self-doubt and self-effacement to finally the much dreadful self-flagellation.
It is in this backdrop that Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a resounding mandate to govern India, firstly in 2014. After the election results were announced, on May 18, 2014; in its editorial comment, the Guardian, London, clearly stated, “Today, 18 May 2014 will finally go down in history as the day when British finally left India”. And now the Brits, present at almost every nook and corner of India through the colonial hangover manifest in multiple spheres, are truly on the way out. Mahatma Gandhi started the Quit India Movement in 1942. Over eight decades later, another Gujarat-born national leader, PM Narendra Modi gave the marching orders to colonial thinking, re-awakened the true spirit of India, unabashedly asserted India’s cultural identity and thereby finally made the British quit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has significantly enhanced India’s soft power on the global stage through various strategic initiatives. Assertion of India’s cultural identity in an unobtrusive manner in multiple arenas unfolding myriad dimensions appears to be the central pillar of PM Modi’s policy approach.
PM Modi started asserting India’s cultural identity on global platforms dexterously. Establishing 21 June as International Yoga Day was in a way the beginning. Supported by more than 170 countries, this India initiated proposal caught the imagination of the entire global community. The vision was to connect the world as one family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) through yoga-based lifestyle to provide wellness solutions, create a healthy and peaceful planet earth. It also aimed to promote the benefits of practising yoga for physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The beginning itself was grand with millions of people participating worldwide. In fact, several people were inspired to start practising yoga regularly after attending the first IDY. According to a survey conducted by the Indian government, the number of people doing yoga increased significantly after IDY in 2015. The survey revealed that around 35% of the participants continued to practice yoga even after the event ended. In India, 85 lakh people practised yoga in June 2015. The numbers leapfrogged in the subsequent years and reached 9 crore on IDY 2019. Based on these statistics, India’s total number of IDY 2020 participants was estimated to be around 12.06 crore. However, these numbers almost doubled in 2022, taking the tally to 22.13 crores, making IDY probably the biggest event in the country. Apart from creating awareness, IDY also succeeded in promoting yoga as a healthy lifestyle choice.
One of the most notable benefits is improved physical and mental health. Studies have shown that regular yoga practice can reduce stress, improve flexibility and balance. By promoting yoga through IDY, more people are exposed to these health benefits and encouraged to incorporate yoga into their daily lives. In addition to physical and mental health benefits, IDY also increases awareness of yoga as a discipline. Overall, IDY plays a vital role in promoting yoga education and improving the well-being of individuals and communities around the world.
Yoga has come a long way from being just a practice in India to becoming a global phenomenon. With the rise of social media and digital platforms, yoga has been able to transcend geographical boundaries and reach people all over the world. 192 countries celebrating the first International Day of Yoga in 2015 (including 44 Islamic countries) shows its popularity. Though there are no documented estimates for the number of people engaging in IDY celebrations globally on an annual basis, it is observed that over 400 million people have participated in IDY celebrations in 2022. While the United States has a good population representation in IDY, several smaller European, Asian and African countries also participated in this activity. The impact is very positive with the number of people in each country practising yoga for wellness and health benefits increasing by 2-7% annually. The active engagement of ICCR and the office of the Ministry of External Affairs in every country with the support of AYUSH ministry is certainly creating a great impact. IDY also brought major policymakers and global healthcare bodies to create standards for yoga training, simplify the process of yoga therapy delivery and promote yoga research.
PM Modi must have been the first Prime Minister who has been regularly and very actively engaging with the India diaspora and thereby recognizing their role in promoting India’s interests abroad. This includes organizing events like Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas annually and encouraging their participation in India’s development. Events such as the Madison Square Garden address in New York, the Allphones Arena event in Australia, the India Community Reception in Dubai, Bharat Ki Baat Sabke Saath in London, and Howdy Modi in Houston, the US, and similar such events held in the last few years during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the respective countries underscore his deep connection with the Indian diaspora and his efforts to strengthen their role in promoting global ties. In his inimitable style, PM Modi has appealed NRIs to bring at least five foreign tourists to India along with them and this too has had an electrifying impact.
PM Modi has also asserted the fact that India is the Mother of Democracy and remember, democracy is one of India’s most crucial soft power assets too. Notably, India has now started engaging with young political leaders from important democratic countries regularly through a specially crafted programme of the ICCR, namely, Gen Next Democracy Network. Again, the selection of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” as the G-20 motto has a message, loud and clear that like India, every other country must consider the entire global community as one family. It is with the same spirit in his heart, PM Modi appealed warring nations of Europe, Russia and Ukraine saying that “this is not the era of War” and everyone started endorsing his appeal. PM Modi’s mantra of LiFE, which is lifestyle for environment is also very practical on the one hand and the deep philosophical meaning on the other. All these are the manifestations of PM Modi’s assertion of Indian culture on global platforms.
During the last 10-plus years, Indian festivals have started acquiring global dimensions. Now, Diwali is unmistakably celebrated in the White House in the US as well as at the 10 Downing Street in London. The government has supported the celebration of Indian festivals worldwide and participated in the international festivals held in various countries, enhancing cultural visibility and developing a sense of community among the diaspora. It is now an established fact that Diwali enables non-Indians to focus on and recognize Indians throughout the world on a specific day. Although Presidents and Prime Ministers around the world have been congratulating Christians and Muslims and holding Christmas and Eid-Ul-Duha etc., for many years, it was only recently that the emergence of Diwali as the major Indian celebration has allowed for a similar focus on a day for Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs.
Academic initiatives are also noteworthy. PM Modi has, recently, personally met with prominent Indologists, such as during his visit to Poland and Austria, to acknowledge their contributions in strengthening our knowledge-relations. The government has supported not just Indology conferences but also conferences on yoga and Buddhist studies.
At many occasions, PM Modi has highlighted India’s rich traditions in cinema and cuisine as tools of soft power, promoting them during international visits to enhance cultural diplomacy. In 2023, ICCR also started the Annapurna Certificate Programme for restaurants serving authentic Indian cuisine abroad.
During the last 10+ years, Government of India very systematically planned and executed repatriation campaign for artefacts dating back to the colonial era, including the Kohinoor diamond. Since 2014, in a way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made this a mission for himself. Shortly after May 2014, Australia gave back a stolen 11th century idol of Nataraja from the Chola dynasty and an Ardhanarishwara statue dating back to the 10th century. This was followed by the homecoming of many such artefacts including the Parrot Lady sculpture that was stolen and taken to Canada, and 10th century Mahishasuramardini idol stolen and taken to Germany from a temple in Pulwama’s Tengpora village in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Again in 2015 the Singapore-based Asian Civilization Museum returned an 11th century Uma Parameshwari bronze idol stolen from a Shiva temple in in Tamil Nadu’s Ariyalur district.
Never before India had a Prime Minister who speaks in Hindi no matter in which country he is, communicates the aspirations of Indians on global platforms without mincing words and refuses to compromise on the fact that India has a distinct identity. His idea of South-South cooperation also could be seen as an oblique message to those who see the World through only Western lenses. His approach of asserting identity on the one hand and connecting through culture is the most effective way of becoming Vishwa-Mitra in real sense of the term.
* vinays57@gmail.com