1. INDIAN DIASPORA
AND
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY
Dr. Bhawna Gupta
Assistant Professor in Public Administration,
PG GCG – 42,
Chandigarh

2. CULTURAL DIPLOMACY -
MEANING
• multifaceted
– cultural policy,
– information and
– advocacy.
• Willy Brandt - the „third pillar of foreign
policy‟.

3. .
• Changing place of Culture in foreign policy
– funding artists‟ tours or by promoting the study of
country‟s language and culture in universities abroad.
– music,
– literature,
– performance and
– the visual arts
The Role of UNESCO

4. Hard Power
• HARD = actual use of military force, economic sanctions,
coercive diplomacy etc
„Hard power is the ability to get others to do what they
otherwise would not do through threats or rewards.
Whether by economic carrots or military sticks, the ability
to coax or coerce has long been the central element of
power.‟

5. Soft Power
„Soft power …is the ability to achieve goals through
attraction rather than coercion. It works by convincing
others to follow or getting them to agree to norms and
institutions that produce the desired behavior.
Soft power can rest on the appeal of one's ideas or culture
… and …depends largely on the persuasiveness of the free
information that an actor seeks to transmit. If a state can
[do this] it may not need to expend as many costly
traditional economic or military resources.‟

6. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
‘Soft Power’
CULTURAL INTERNATIONAL
DIPLOMACY BROADCASTING
Long-term; Short-term;
Education News & Views
• Indian Council of Cultural Relations • Media
•International Agencies

7. Nation Branding
• Nation branding has been identified as a useful tool to
counter negative stereotypes
• Aims :
– boost tourism,
– be used to promote trade and investment.
– establish regular trade routes and
– facilitate the exchange of local knowledge.
– can improve interstate relations and
– build foundations for economic, political and cultural dialogue.

8. INDIA
• India is home to
– all the world‟s major religions
– 500 dialects,.
– “Vasudeva Kutumbakam
• Recognizing “the importance of the Indian
Diaspora as it has brought economic, financial,
and global benefits to India,” the government has
initiated a number of programs focusing on
outreach to Indians abroad.

9. Nehru and Non-Alignment
• 1947 – late 80s - non-aligned foreign policy
stance
• For Nehru, cultural linkages and cooperation
between nations and people were an important
• The end of the Cold War in the 1990s - change
• India‟s relationships with the United States, China
and Russia were reconfigured, as were those with
immediate neighbours, including Pakistan.

10. • The idealism replaced by pragmatism.
• Major thrust - fostering better trade and economic
relations and at the political level through public
and cultural diplomacy.
– “Know India Program”.
– the annual „Pravasi Bharatiya Divas‟
– “Brand India” image as part of its outreach to a global
audience.
• Uploading Website

11. INDIAN DIASPORA
• 30 million and spread across 120 countries.
– NRIs (Non-resident Indians) and
– "PIOs" (Persons of Indian Origin), they cover
practically every part of the Indian Ocean.
• Migration
– to the far-flung coasts of the Indian Ocean
– As indentured laborers by the British to South Africa, and Kenya,
in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

12. Role of Indian Diaspora
• professionals - provide technical skills and
expertise.
• decision-makers in their respective countries.
• government and in key non-government sectors.
• Indian associations
– regional,
– religious and
– caste-based
„mini-Indias‟ across the world.

13. SIGNIFICANT INSTRUMENTS
USED IN
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

14. Indian Cultural Centres
• The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) - 24 cultural centres
outside India to project Indian culture to local people.
• under the administrative control of the respective Indian diplomacy
missions in which the centres are located.
– „strong ethnic link‟ i.e. a sizeable Indian community (Mauritius,
Guyana, Suriname, Indonesia, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa
(Johannesberg and Durban), Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Fiji);
– those in major European capitals (Moscow, London and Berlin);
– those in newly independent republics of the erstwhile Soviet Union
(Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan);
– the cultural centre in Egypt (Cairo).

15. Cultural Agreements
• Department of Culture - 121 cultural agreements
with countries.
• Department of Culture - „the overall
responsibility for chalking out plans for cultural
exchanges with other countries through
concluding agreements on Cultural Cooperation
and Cultural Exchange Programmes.‟
• The ICCR - „essentially concerned with
implementation of relevant provisions of these
agreements and exchange programmes.‟

16. Festivals of India Abroad
• counter stereotypical images abroad.
• showing a once-great India, a country founded on
a millenia-old civilisation
• national pride.
Cultural group performances, artist performances
and exhibitions

17. Educational scholarships and
distinguished scholars
• The ICCR also facilitates scholarships and
exchange programmes for students and
scholars.
• focused on students from developing
countries
• But the numbers of such scholarships have
to increase for a greater impact.

18. Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas
• “Diaspora Day,” is major annual event that encourages
the involvement of the Diaspora community in the
development of their homeland:
• Aims:
– bringing the expertise and knowledge of the Indian overseas community to
India and integrating it into India‟s development process.
– highlighting networking opportunities and collaborating to confer a
mutual development platform.
• The event involves a number of activities bringing together
representatives from around the world.

19. Know India Program
• KIP is hosted through the Ministry of Overseas Indian
Affairs.
– connecting the younger generation of Indians living abroad to Indian
heritage and culture:
• Also known as the Internship Program for Indian
Diaspora (IPDY)
• forum to students and young professionals of Indian origin
to visit India and share their views, expectations and
experiences.
• Youth Festivals and Cultural Camps

20. Religion
• different groups and cults in Indian religion and
some of them have their presence in other
countries also.
• Gurus visited countries abroad for lectures
• The emphasis - on spiritualism, rather than on
religion per se, on yoga, vegetarian food,
meditation, mental peace.

21. Yoga
• Training institutes/centres for Yoga are to be seen in
almost all countries
• Aim
– gain peace of mind,
– putting body in shape and
– learn how to meditate and concentrate one‟s mind power.
• “spirituality” and not on religion.

22. Religious and Cultural Tourism

23. Indian Films and Bollywood
• Indian films and Indian TV serials
• Indian male and female film stars - judges or as prominent
guests at international film festivals.
• honorary doctorates

24. Indian Fashions
• Nehru Sherwani
• Indian fashion designers set up their stores in Paris,
London, New York, Dubai and/or Abu Dhabi.
• Some of the Indian Diaspora members in Europe have
also popularized their designs like the House of Mexx.
• the Indian Pashmina Shawls and richly embroidered male
long shirts are becoming popular.
• Beauty Queens

25. Indian Cuisine
• The “curry appeal” is irresistible.
• Number of Indian restaurants in major cities of
the world
– employment of a large number of people,
– considerable import of Indian grains, lentils, condiments and other
ingredients from India.
• display paintings by famous Indian artists
• display of Indian music and dance.

26. Indian Music
•Both Indian Classical and Pop
Music is very popular
•Ravi Shanker‟s Sitar music
•Zakir Hussain‟s percussion
themes
•Bhangra Music,
•Rythm and Dance.
• music and dance schools

27. Indian literature
• Indian correspondents of influential newspapers
and periodicals, and also anchors of CNN, BBC
News Service.
• Man Booker and Pulitzer Prizes,
• India is the second largest newspaper market in
the world.
• India has more than 60,000,000 internet users,
• and the country ranks 8thin the world by number
of TV stations.

28. Public Diplomacy in the
Information Age
• The Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External
Affairs was established in May 2006.
• Indian diplomacy has to exploit systems and active
communication tools such as twitter, blogs, facebook, etc.
that are symbols of an increasingly interconnected world.
• It is thus time that Indian diplomats took up Public
Diplomacy and its tools to convey their message to a
global audience.

29. CONCLUSION
• tapping media resources through the use of
modern communication tools.
• Indian diplomacy can leverage is Indian culture
and civilization which date back to 5000 years.
• tap all available resources and seek ways of
projecting the country‟s soft power.
• “Leveraging public diplomacy and cultural
diplomacy is key for this purpose.”

30. Thank You