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Commentary on India's soft power and Diaspora.

Article Excerpt
India has a tradition of ancient wisdom and spirituality and now is surging in the field of economics and military capability, but it has failed to win back its lost glory, and is often thought to be backward. India has not adequately utilized its soft power resources at home and through the Indian Diaspora. India should realize where its strengths lie if it wants to resurrect its image. The alluring India nurtures the values of love, peace and brotherhood. Through its ancient wisdom and spirituality, it is ready to serve humanity and show to the world that it can remain the cultural essence of a modern prosperous India. This should encourage other nations to acknowledge that India can have a great leadership role in the world.

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Is India in a position to get due recognition by other nations of the world? Its economy is growing at a stupendous rate of over eight percent. India now is a nuclear power, having the fourth largest military, and supports over 17.5 percent of the world's population. Its foreign exchange is a whooping 313 billion dollars and growing. Indians dominate the list of top 10 billionaires, with four Indians on the list. Does this prove the grandeur of India? So, now can it have a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, and be allowed to join the elite power group? Can it now be placed above the 'Third World' status, and be known to the world as a developed country?

The answer is a capital N and O, "NO."

India, for that matter Indians, will have to glean through their history if ever they want to resurrect their image and exalt India's lost glory. In Shashi Tharoor's words, "India must determine where its strengths lie as it seeks to make the twenty-first century its own." (1)

To return to India's grandeur, Indians will have to bring forth its spiritual qualities and prove to the world that India has still not passed through the phase of atrophy, and is ready as ever to serve the world. Stephen P. Cohen, in his book Emerging Power India, argues that "Much to the chagrin of the Indian strategic elite, India has stirred the western imagination more because of its exotic and esoteric qualities than because of its power and influence as a state." (2)

With its enormous cultural, social, economic and...

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