– By Syeda Shagufta
– Intern IPPCS’21
From extravagant appearances across oceans to monumental social media interactions with world leaders, it is hardly surprising that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s international diplomacy is quite eye-catching. However, critiques have given mixed reviews about his approach to foreign policy where on one hand the UN General Assembly’s declaration of an International Yoga Day garnered praises, opening up several possibilities of projecting India’s soft power, but on the other hand, it is believed that India still needs a more inclusive and coherent public diplomacy strategy to make sure its soft power has a cascading effect across the globe.
“Foreign policy is about finding the common meeting points. Where do our interests converge and how much? We have to sit and talk with every country. It’s our ongoing effort” — (PM Narendra Modi in conversation with Times Now)
Historical Significance
India’s contributions have been recognised globally through the successful use of its pillar of foreign policy, i.e., soft power, which has its roots in the ancient Indian culture. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which not only finds its place in the Indian Constitution, but also was a precursor to the concepts of collective responsibility and shared future, and subsequently was used by many leaders to make their mark in diplomatic conferences, to send the message of collaboration, peace and unity. India’s regional cultural and educational cooperation has expanded its soft power capabilities leaps and bounds due to the common ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural heritage with multiple South Asian countries. Therefore, studying India’s reach in terms of cultural diplomacy becomes essential to predict the basis for India’s regional diplomacy given its unique status in a culture-rich region like South-East Asia, where cultural diplomacy seems to be the norm for the formation of policies.
India’s cultural prowess can be observed through the relentless spread of Yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit, Music, Food, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Buddhism, Cricket, Bollywood, etc., throughout the world. Its status as a non-aggressor country which believes in pluralism and diversity is also due to its culture which is deep-rooted in its practices. From Bollywood’s popularity in Pakistan and Afghanistan to the widespread practice of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, China, Myanmar, Thailand, etc., India’s endeavours in the past through non use of threat to life or weapons have given its cultural customs and traditions unequalled powers.
In the 1990’s, India’s Look East policy was fostered keeping historical cultural relations in mind. However, a more cogent and robust use of the same can be seen in the foundation of more recent initiatives like Project Mausam and Spice Route which can be traced to the ancient traditional trade routes. Today, we see India’s soft power dominance through its initiatives facilitated by its Council for Cultural Relations and other Cultural Centres (named after personalities like Gandhi, Vivekananda, Nehru etc.) for overseas capacity building, training, conservation, development, etc. Through this, India wishes for the international community to recognise South Asia as its sphere of influence, evident through its efforts which are more inclined towards soft power assertion rather than its military capabilities.
Multiculturalism, pluralism and India
Multiculturalism has attracted many investors and tourists alike to countries like Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan etc. which portray themselves as truly Asian cosmopolitan countries. However, India has only been able to partly build its brand through multicultural assimilation. Although India is increasingly becoming an integral part of the Asian political dynamics, its truest competitor in terms of cultural diplomacy would be China with its rich cultural heritage and Chinese diaspora. Unlike India, China has more aggressive cultural soft power tools which is evident through footprints of its culture in South-East Asian countries, which is a result of its eagerness to intertwine culture with politics, diplomacy and economics, coupled with its success in doing so, while asserting soft power.
In terms of pluralism, the concept finds solace, in India, in the writings of Rabindranath Tagore through the promotion of ‘unity of diversity’ allowing India to create dialogues and partnerships through cultural diplomacy, without hampering the co-existence of multiple identities and posing a threat to other soft power maestros. The contemporary ASEAN-India relations through the ‘Act East Policy’, prove to be a great example whereby India harbours the assimilation and integration of foreign cultures while furthering its own cultural interests. The Indian COVID 19 Vaccine diplomacy also brought Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam once again to the forefront, allowing India to assert dominance in the neighbourhood.
Strengthening and learning from the past
Having considered the triumphs of the past, it is of great importance for India to achieve its full potential by adopting a more dynamic, cogent and crosscutting approach to fill gaps in its soft power efforts by organising more multistakeholder and multisectoral initiatives like Namaste 2020, under the aegis of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. While the world is looking at cultural and digital intersections, India’s digitization efforts have to be multidimensional and adaptive. The Indo-Pacific and QUAD alliances also need to be taken into consideration to ensure India is not left behind in utilising digital soft power capabilities, with the endless potential of drawing on the world famous Indian tech professionals and the eagerness of the US, Japan and Australia to curb the dominance of the growing Chinese digital power.
It would be wise for India to avoid repeatedly committing mistakes of the past, by going beyond exclusive traditional forms of cultural diplomacy. Although it may seem as though India’s chances to tap its unexplored potential may be affected due to the new dynamics emerging out of the Afghan issue, resulting in China’s dominance in South-East Asia, the QUAD alliance can be optimally used by India to address its concerns and re-assessing its strategies, besides creating an environment for digital collaboration with ASEAN. Additionally, one cannot deny the interdependence of internal and external behaviour of a State in determining the effectiveness of soft power tools. All strategies to use culture for soft power assertion will be paralysed if newly emerging narrow and biased elements are free to infect ethos of the age old democratic inclusive culture that India has been nurturing since independence.
onducted a total of five underground nuclear tests, breaking a 24-year self-imposed moratorium on nuclear testing. Pakistan followed, claiming 5 tests on May 28, 1998, and an additional test on May 30. The unannounced tests created a global storm of criticism, as well as a serious setback for decades of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts in South Asia. On May 13, 1998, President Clinton imposed economic and military sanctions on India, mandated by Section 102 of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), and applied the same sanctions to Pakistan on May 30. Some effects of the sanctions on India included: termination of $21 million in FY1998 economic development assistance; postponement of $1.7 billion in lending by the International Financial Institutions (IFI), as supported by the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrial nations; prohibition on loans or credit from U.S. banks to the government of India; and termination of Foreign Military Sales under the Arms Export Control Act. Humanitarian assistance, food, or other agricultural commodities are excepted from sanctions under the law. 
The first ministerial level meeting of QUAD was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Before this, the QUAD had
AusIndEx is an exercise between India and Australia which was first held in 2015.The Australian 
On recommendations of the Japanese government, the four countries met at Manila, Philippines for ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) originally, but also ended up having a meeting of what we call the first meeting of four nation states on issues of 
On his official visit to India, Japanese PM Mr. Shinzo Abe reinforced the ties of two nations, i.e., Japan and India with his famous speech about 
In 2007, Japanese President Shinzo Abe resigned from his post citing health reasons. This had a significant impact on QUAD as he was the architect & advocate of QUAD. His successor, Yasuo Fukuda, did not take up QUAD with such zeal leading to dormancy of the forum. (
Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011, also called Great Sendai Earthquake or Great Tōhoku Earthquake, was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake which struck below the floor of the Western Pacific at 2:49 PM. The powerful earthquake affected the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island, and also initiated a series of large tsunami waves that devastated coastal areas of Japan, which also led to a major nuclear accident. Japan received aid from India, US, Australia as well as other countries. US Navy aircraft carrier was dispatched to the area and Australia sent search-and-rescue teams. 
India and Australia signed the 
The India-Japan Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy was signed on 11 November, 2016 and came into force on 20 July, 2017 which was representative of strengthening ties between India and Japan. Diplomatic notes were exchanged between Dr. S. Jaishankar and H.E. Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India. (
The foreign ministry
The Officials of QUAD member countries met in Singapore on November 15, 2018 for consultation on regional & global issues of common interest. The main discussion revolved around connectivity, sustainable development, counter-terrorism, maritime and cyber security, with the view to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the 
The 23rd edition of trilateral Malabar maritime exercise between India, US and Japan took place on 26 September- 04 October, 2019 off the coast of Japan. 
After the first ministerial level meeting of QUAD in September, 2019, the senior officials of US, Japan, India and Australia again met for consultations in Bangkok on the margins of the East Asia Summit. Statements were issued separately by the four countries. Indian Ministry of External Affairs said “In statements issued separately by the four countries, MEA said, “proceeding from the strategic guidance of their Ministers, who met in New York City on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly recently, the officials exchanged views on ongoing and additional practical cooperation in the areas of connectivity and infrastructure development, and security matters, including counterterrorism, cyber and maritime security, with a view to promoting peace, security, stability, prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.”
US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held on 18 December, 2019, in Washington DC. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper will host Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar and Minister of Defense Shri Rajnath Singh. The discussion focussed on deepening bilateral strategic and defense cooperation, exchanging perspectives on global developments, and our shared leadership in the Indo-Pacific region.The two democracies signed the Industrial Security Annex before the 2+2 Dialogue. Assessments of the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Indian Ocean region in general were shared between both countries. (
The foreign ministers of QUAD continued their discussions from the last ministerial level meeting in 2019, on 6 October, 2020. While there was no joint statement released, all countries issued individual readouts. As per the issue readout by India, the discussion called for a coordinated response to the challenges including financial problems emanating from the pandemic, best practices to combat Covid-19, increasing the resilience of supply chains, and enhancing access to affordable vaccines, medicines and medical equipment. There was also a focus on maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region amidst growing tensions. Australian media release mentions “We emphasised that, especially during a pandemic, it was vital that states work to ease tensions and avoid exacerbating long-standing disputes, work to counter disinformation, and refrain from malicious cyberspace activity. Ministers reiterated that states cannot assert maritime claims that are inconsistent with international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”
On September 24, President Biden hosted Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan at the White House for the first-ever in-person Leaders’ Summit of the QUAD. The leaders released a Joint Statement which summarised their dialogue and future course of action. The regional security of the Indo-Pacific and strong confidence in the ASEAN remained on the focus along with response to the Pandemic. 
The QUAD Vaccine Partnership was announced at the first QUAD Summit on 12 March 2021 where QUAD countries agreed to deliver 1.2 billion vaccine doses globally. The aim was to expand and finance vaccine manufacturing and equipping the Indo-Pacific to build resilience against Covid-19. The launch of a senior-level QUAD Vaccine Experts Group, comprised of top scientists and officials from all QUAD member governments was also spearheaded. 
Although the Tsunami Core group had to be disbanded on fulfilment of its purpose, however the quadrilateral template that formed remained intact as a successful scaffolding of four countries, as stated by authors Patrick Gerard Buchan and Benjamin Rimland in their diplomatic brief about QUAD ( you can access the brief at 
Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that the Core Tsunami Group was to be disbanded and folded and clubbed with the broader United Nations led Relief Operations. In a Tsunami Relief Conference in Jakarta, Secretary Powell stated that 
Soon after the Earthquake and Tsunami crisis, humanitarian reliefs by countries, viz., US, India, Japan, and Australia started to help the 13 havoc-stricken countries. The US initially promised $ 35 Millions in aid. However, on 29
At 7:59AM local time, an earthquake of 9.1 magnitude (undersea) hit the coast of Sumatra, an Indonesian island. As a result of the same, massive waves of Tsunami triggered by the earthquake wreaked havoc for 7 hours across the Indian Ocean and to the coastal areas as far away as East Africa. The infamous Tsunami killed around 225,000 people, with people reporting the height of waves to be as high as 9 metres, i.e., 30 feet. Indonesia, Srilanka, India, Maldives, Thailand sustained horrendously massive damage, with the death toll exceeding 200,000 in Northern Sumatra’s Ache province alone. A great many people, i.e., around tens of thousands were found dead or missing in Srilanka and India, mostly from Andaman and Nicobar Islands of Indian territory. Maldives, being a low-lying country, also reported casualties in hundreds and more, with several non-Asian tourists reported dead or missing who were vacationing. Lack of food, water, medicines burgeoned the numbers of casualties, with the relief workers finding it difficult to reach the remotest areas where roads were destroyed or civil war raged. Long-term environmental damage ensued too, as both natural and man-made resources got demolished and diminished.
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