By Aparna Pande
This article appeared in Indolink on September 24, 2006

The growing popularity of movies, made in a different country across the globe, amongst the young generation from England to Indonesia reflects the rise of soft power. ‘Monsoon Wedding’ a romantic comedy about a New Delhi family, ‘Bride and Prejudice’ or ‘Jane Austen meets Bollywood’ and ‘Lagaan’ a movie about cricket and the British Raj: all reflect the growing power of India. ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’, a British variation of an Indian dish, is acknowledged by the British as part of ‘British culture.’ In the field of literature VS Naipaul is known the world over and in economics and development Amartya Sen is the authority. 

According to Harvard professor Joseph S Nye Soft power “is the ability to get what you want by attracting and persuading others to adopt your goals.” The attraction and ability to persuade others often depends on trust and credibility. It grows out of both culture and policies.

The Nehruvian legacy for India’s foreign policy has been the reluctance to intervene internationally, except as part of the UN peace keeping force. Another legacy has been the focus on the Western nations and former Soviet Union to the detriment of relations with countries where Indian soft power would be welcomed.

 

There are Chinese living in India for generations (not Tibetan refugees) who speak Hindi as fluently as North Indians do; and do not speak Mandarin at all. There are Portuguese descendants who speak Portuguese, Hindi or Marathi and Goanese which has a bit of all languages. There are brown skinned fluent French speakers in parts of this country, even a village where everyone only speaks French. And of course there are the vast majority who speak English along with their regional language.

 

The cultural and historical ties of India exist not just with its immediate neighbors but also with regions as far away as Trinidad and Tobago and South East Asia. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are just a few hundred miles away from Indonesia. Remnants of Hinduism and ancient Indian culture can still be found in Java.

 

Borobodur has old Buddhist stupas built during the eras when there was trade and commerce with the Indian subcontinent. The Indonesian language is called Bhasa (Sanskrit for language) and their airline carrier is called Garuda (an ancient Indian mythical creature). Thailand has ancient Hindu temples like Angkor Vat and Bangkok International airport is called Suvarnabhumi (Sanskrit for Land of Gold).

 

India’s smaller neighbors fear the big brother who imposes its diktats. Maybe Its time for a change; the big brother needs to transform into the older sibling who helps his younger sibling/s to stand on their own feet.

 

India is a fast growing economy. It will grow much faster if it is able to look upon the whole of South Asia as its base. Indian institutes of technical education, medicine and information technology are world-renowned. Influx of students from neighboring countries would help them. Not only would their resources increase, so would their reputation. Instead of spending dollars to study in America and Europe, high quality education, at par with those countries, can be obtained closer home and at a lower cost.

 

Just as its smaller neighbors fear India and India can use its economic leverage there, in the case of South East Asia maybe the cultural leverage needs to be the first step. These countries were the Asian Tigers who entered the global economy before India and benefited much earlier. They fear a rising India but also fear a rising China. The advantage India has over China is that India can use soft power – whether through Bollywood or through its cuisine or even through education. The size of the Indian diaspora in South East Asia is over 3 million.

 

The homeland of Buddha, Mahavira, Mahatma Gandhi and Maulana Azad does not need military power to be respected in today’s world. Military and economic power is not the only currency in the world; even if it is considered so in today’s world. Soft power, your ability to influence others directly or indirectly, without force or threats of any kind is an underused image of power.

 

The twentieth century saw the emergence of one kind of soft power, that of the non-violent Indian National movement under Gandhi. Let the twenty-first century see the rise of another kind of soft power, the cultural, educational and economic power of India. An India, which believes in giving and receiving, and an India that believes in achieving great heights but for the community at large. An India that believes it can win over others not through brute force or coercion but through a common view of humanity.