Governmental Intervention in Strategizing India’s Soft Power: Bollywood, Sports and Beyond

Soft power alongside hard power has become an important component of a country’s power and influence today. Joseph Nye, who coined the term in 1990s, describes it as the ability to shape the preference of others through attraction rather than coercion or payments. Though his theory centred around the United States, later several scholars have focused on the concept through Indian lens. The concept of soft power, however, is not a new phenomenon for the sub constituent. Non alignment movement, global leadership in anti-colonial struggles, Nehruvian diplomacy, yoga, cuisine and Indian Diaspora have been a de-facto source of the country's soft power. Though there are several works related to the analysis of India’s soft power, there are limited publications analysing the role of the government in enhancing the same. Thus, this paper seeks to focus on the role of governmental intervention in harnessing India’s soft power in the areas such as sports and entertainment industry taking inputs from various countries around the world.