The Magnetic Pull of Bharat’s Soft Power

The word “soft power” was first coined by Harvard scholar Joseph Nye. He described this term as the ability to attract and co-opt, rather than using coercion which was called as hard power. When used in the context of nation-states, hard power was like using military force or giving money as a means to getting people to accept one’s viewpoint whereas soft power rested on the strength of a country’s culture, political values and foreign policies.

For thousands of years before this term was framed, Bharat’s soft power had always been far-reaching and profound. This can be gauged by the spread of the Ramayana, Buddhism as well as the worship of Hindu and Buddhist deities all over Asia and other parts of the world, so also the influence that Bharatiya martial arts had on other Asian martial arts – Chinese kung fu, Japanese karate and Korean taekwondo.

Actually, since at least till 2nd century BC, Bharatiya kings, ministers, traders, priests and others spread Bharatiya civilization to South-East Asia and other countries. People in these countries became Hindu or Buddhist, but no force was ever used upon them; rather it was the outcome of the deep impact that Bharatiya culture had on them.

Ancient Chinese, Greek and Arabs who visited Bharat remarked and even impressed that even though the Bharatiya political system was also a monarchy, yet it was always benevolent. For the kings, the welfare of their subjects was their primary goal. And despite being among the most powerful nations of the ancient world, Bharat never imposed its views on others. Till today, there is a lot of respect and fondness for Bharatiya civilization, especially in S.E. Asia.

So as measured by Nye’s yardstick of influencing others by one’s culture, political values and foreign policies, ancient Bharat was definitely numero uno. But the long foreign rule which lasted over 1,000 years broke Bharat’s engagement with the world at large. Post-independence in 1947, the governments were mired in their own socialist and secularist framework which didn’t seek any inspiration from Bharat’s history or sources, but instead chose to project upon Bharat, a Western model in all fields.

Thus Yoga, which has probably become Bharat’s no.1 brand name, and many other core Bharatiya values grew without any government support.

But recently, and especially with the ascendancy of Shri Narendra Modi as Prime Minister in 2014, things have started to gradually change. Today, Bharat doesn’t seem to be shy in attempting to re-claim its precious heritage, and to take a decisive and leadership role in spreading it to the global world.

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