| Summary/Abstract |
The Indian diaspora is one of the largest, richest, oldest, and most dynamic in the world. It surprisingly emerged as a source of India’s soft power. The Indian diaspora has shown the ability to strengthen India’s global relations and to rebuild India’s image beyond the borders. It disseminates Indian traditions and civilisation that generate the feeling of “Indianness”. Though, during the pre-liberalisation period, the diaspora had no adequate space in India’s foreign policy, after realising its worth the Government of India is now cultivating it. The Indian diaspora is raising the image of India especially in the United States of America (information technology & software skills), United Arab Emirates (culture), and Saudi Arabia (entrepreneurship or managerial assistance). However, in South Asia, the Indian diaspora is not a real factor in support of objectives of India’s foreign policy. The objective of this research paper by Kriti is to explore the significance of the Indian diaspora as India’s soft power in South Asia and its impact on India’s bilateral relations with the countries in the region.
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