THE CHANGING NATURE OF NEW DELHI’s SOFT POWER NARRATIVE IN SOUTH ASIA

In a recent answer during an interaction on New Delhi’s Neighbourhood strategy, the Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM), Dr S. Jaishankar made a compelling observation: India’s longstanding reliance on cultural affinities as the foundation of its soft power in the neighbourhood, had often led to a range of complexities and unintended ‘wrinkles’. 

Since Independence, New Delhi’s South Asian strategy has drawn heavily from its shared religious, linguistic, and historical roots. Yet, as the EAM indicated, this approach has at times proven to be a double-edged sword, causing suspicion and resistance rather than cultivating the intended goodwill. Narratives casting New Delhi as an interventionist power too have gained traction, often being politically weaponized to sway public sentiment for electoral gains in South Asian countries. In light of such growing complexities particularly pertaining to New Delhi’s perception in the neighbourhood, the EAM’s remarks invites an overdue assessment: Has New Delhi’s emphasis on cultural affinity as the focus of its regional policy reached a point of diminishing returns, calling for a strategic re-orientation of its overarching neighbourhood narrative?

Re-orienting India’s Neighbourhood Narrative

The South Asian region is no stranger to instability, whether economic, political, or military. Even in its relatively short history as modern nation-states, South Asian countries have experienced far-reaching consequences that has prevented the region from scaling-up to its full potential.

Seven decades after its independence, South Asia continues to lag behind on most socio-economic and developmental indicators, second only to Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of poverty and underdevelopment. It remains one of the least connected regions globally, struggling with social and political conflicts year after year. These developmental challenges display a significant gap in both, New Delhi’s material neighbourhood policy as well as its overarching narrative in the region.

Historically, New Delhi has played a crucial role in the region’s overall development trajectory, albeit often falling short in fulfilling its role as a developmental partner. However, while India’s leadership role in the region has significantly been shaped by its socio-cultural ties, these affinities have occasionally proved to be more disruptive than unifying. The case of India’s troubled relationship with Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are some of the many examples where cultural aspects of its soft power have rather gone on to strain the overall bilateral relationships, instead of creating space for enhancing the socio-economic status of the region.

The strategy of primarily relying on its cultural roots has increasingly also led to the perception of India asserting its cultural, geographical and economic superiority, culminating in the uptick of anti-India and an interventionist India narrative. This long-exercised soft power strategy, has frequently denied regional players the political agency they seek, leading to the perception where New Delhi is seen as interfering rather than collaborating. Furthermore, despite India’s historic contributions to the region’s growth, its reliance on shared socio-cultural aspects as a primary foreign policy tool often overshadows the more immediate and tangible needs of its neighbourhood.

The Narrative Power of Development for a People-Centric Approach

As the largest country in South Asia, India has a unique opportunity to redefine its role in the region by re-oreinting its foreign policy approach to effectively addressing such persistent concerns. By aligning its foreign policy to focus on the developmental aspirations emerging within the region, New Delhi can transcend the ideological differences and ensure that the state of bilateral ties is not jeopardised for domestic political gains. Though still in its early stages, this redefined role is rightfully taking shape in New Delhi’s strategic mindset as well, as reflected in the EAM’s remarks.

Take the recent case of Maldives for example, where the bilateral relationship saw detrimental changes following Mohamed Muizzu's rise to power, backed by an effective ‘India-Out’ election campaign. Despite the tensions created by the consistent anti-India rhetoric portrayed by the present government in Male, New Delhi chose to pursue a nuanced and settling strategy. Rather than disengaging with a hostile government, it continued to offer support during the Maldives' ongoing economic crisis, demonstrating India’s commitment to long-term development partnerships irrespective of short-term political challenges. A similar approach was deployed with Nepal too, where New Delhi facilitated a trilateral agreement with Nepal and Bangladesh, enabling Kathmandu to export electricity to a third country through Indian territory. This pragmatic approach, focused on the people’s needs rather than political ideologies, projects New Delhi’s as a partner that is interested in the overall development of the South Asian, irrespective of the government in power.

Another notable example was illustrated in India’s growing developmental assistance in Mauritius, where it has successfully facilitated the construction of key projects including the Supreme Court building, the Metro Express along with hospitals and a social housing project, delivering them ahead of schedule and below costs. Such initiatives have allowed New Delhi to provide tangible benefits beyond its cultural relations, positioning it as essential partner in their development trajectories.

A secondary yet no less important aspect for pursuing a development led approach, emerges from the opportunity of expanding India’s own infrastructure that mutually aides its South Asian neighbours. For instance, railway lines from the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to Nepal have long been discussed for years, including the signing of an MoU in 2018 for the Raxaul-Kathmandu railway line. However, the progress has since been slow due to uneasy bilateral ties leading to delays in initiation of the project.

Irrespective of minor setbacks, such initiatives withhold the power of transforming New Delhi’s regional foreign policy. By signalling a greater focus on development, New Delhi would be better positioned to supersede temporary political tussles where development and immediate concerns are prime drivers of its actions in the neighbourhood. However, to truly anchor its position as a key developmental partner in South Asia, New Delhi would do well in scaling up efforts that demonstrate consistency in such a re-orientation of approach.

The Future of New Delhi’s Role in South Asia

A critical challenge in adopting a development-led focus also lies in securing sustainable funding for regional projects. With growing developmental opportunities in South Asia coupled with greater interest from the developed world, there is an opportunity for New Delhi to expand its development diplomacy through collaboration with other global powers. Partnering with countries such as Japan, U.S and even Russia has the potential to position New Delhi as a crucial  developmental partner in the region, elevating its own standing globally. For instance, third-party collaborative efforts such as India-Japan infrastrutural cooperation in India's North-East and the Bay of Bengal Region, have begun demonstrating the potential of Indo-Japanese partnerships in offering a transparent and inclusive framework for development. Similarly, partnerships with the United States can leverage mechanisms which focuses on funding high-quality infrastructure projects in developing countries. Furthermore, Russia's expertise in energy, transportation, and heavy industry already compliments India's push for infrastructure and clean energy solutions. Joint ventures in these areas are also taking shape, paving the way for addressing South Asia's critical developmental challenges. 

By leveraging its relationships with partner from across the spectrum and aligning with the developmental priorities of its neighbourhood, India has the opportunity to bridge critical infrastructure gaps in South Asia. These gaps, ranging from energy and transportation to digital connectivity, remain significant bottlenecks to the region's economic integration and holistic growth.

Even though there have been considerable developments in third-party cooperation in the region, New Delhi’s position can only be strengthened if it successfully manages to execute these projects in a timely manner. Thus, both, initiation and execution will pave the way for the overall development of South Asia, with India playing a crucial role leading collaborative efforts in the region.

A secondary challenge that could potentially undermine New Delhi’s standing in the region is the 'China question,' which is increasingly impacting India’s relationships within its neighbourhood. Regardless of Beijing’s growing influence in the region, the narrative surrounding New Delhi’s role in South Asia must continue to focus on people-centric policies, rather than evolving into a quid-pro-quo competition with Beijing, as has been the case in the past. Therefore, New Delhi’s rhetorical approach in South Asia should ensure that local sentiments and the socio-political aspirations of neighbouring countries are the prime drivers of its regional policy, allowing India to craft a neighbourhood policy that positions it as an essential player in the region.

New Delhi has invariably begun the much-needed emphasis towards a development-oriented policy in its neighbourhood outreach strategies, one which is also outlined in the strategic shift in the Ministry of External Affairs’ thinking on its Neighbourhood Policy as well. By promoting development and people-centric policies, India’s evolving soft power narrative has the potential to reshape its role in South Asia, as it charts the complexities of regional and domestic politics of recipient countries.

For a region with enormous human-capital and financial potential, New Delhi is at the precipice of an important moment in the region’s history. Embracing a developmental focus rooted in economic cooperation and South Asian inclusivity would enable India not only to test its larger global ambitions, but also showcase its leadership capabilities in the neighbourhood and beyond.