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ABHISHEK ABHAYAIR 336· 2025

Question 17GS2GS2

India has a pride of place among the comity of nations with strong credentials in the arena of soft power. Identifying the key attributes of India's soft power, assess the extent to which it has been leveraged in India's foreign policy matrix.

Open scan (p.41)

Introduction

Foreign policy of a nation is an exercise of minimaxing i.e. minimising the harm and maximising the gain. (Shivshhankar Menon) In such exercise, soft power has very important role to play. Soft power is the power of attraction, persuasion.

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Main Body

Key attributes of India's soft power: 1) Cultural heritage :- Buddhist and Hindu religions and foreign policy based on it. 2) Constitutional values :- Indian constitution embodying values of secularism, 'Unity in Diversity', etc. 3) Multi-religious society :- Living in toleration is an example for the world. 4) Values of democracy :-

Propagating from Ancient times of Satha, Samith, etc. 5) Bollywood :- Recently Bollywood, in songs, dance, actors and actress acting as a player of soft-power. 6) Yoga, meditation :- Ancient practices of yoga, meditation. International day of yoga on 21st June. India's soft power - leveraged in foreign policy matrix: 1) One of the pillar of persuasive foreign policy 2) Buddhist foreign policy with countries of South-East Asia, China, etc. 3) Hindu idea of foreign policy in its immediate neighborhood. 4) Bollywood having influence in Gulf countries with few songs like Nam Nam during Oscar award.

5Democratic values giving it good rapport with western countries. 6) Respect for its 'Toleration, secularism across the globe. 7) Indian centre of cultural advancement under ICCR across the globe. Challenges in front of soft power: 1) Chinese soft power rising with very fast speed :- EI confusions centre in Africa. 2) Declining model of US soft-power :- with debate of democracy v Authoritarianism. Way Forward: India ranked 4th in Asia in term of its soft-power index. Need to invest more in propagating soft-power attributes. Renewed push in era of 'Energetic Diplomacy' to soft-power through Diaspora. here, mix of soft-power and hard-power is the need of the hour to propagate our national interest.
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Conclusion

The need of the hour to propagate our national interest.

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Topper

ABHISHEK ABHAY

AIR 3362025

Subject & Paper

GS2GS2

Topic

Effect of Policies of Developed/Developing Countries and Indian Diaspora

International Relations

India's Soft Power

Writing Stats

310

Total words

1

Paragraphs

analytical

Tone