| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
India has reinforced its strategic objectives in Southeast Asia in response to the rise of China and its growing influence in Southeast Asia. 1 The new geopolitical focus on the region is complemented by India's increasing interest in economic integration with it. This has produced a new kind of strategic relationship that is based largely on the power of attraction rather than that of coercion. 2 India has utilized its rising economic and military resources, normally understood as "hard power," in the form of "soft power" with substantial success. While analysts tend to make a sharp distinction between the hard power of military and economic instruments available to the state, this article shows that there is a substantial overlap between them and that the "soft" aspects of hard power play a significant role in meeting India's strategic objectives. It also examines how purely soft power resources (such as culture) play a complementary role. Taken together, India's soft power-based on military as well as non-military resources-underlies its strategy of building strong defense and strategic links with Southeast Asia.
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