From Bollywood to diplomacy: India’s soft power strategies in Africa

As the world’s fastest-growing large economy (in GDP terms, it is the fifth biggest), the world’s largest democracy, and the most populated country on the planet, India is viewed internationally as an emerging power and a rival to China. In his book Soft Power, Joseph Nye suggested three key sources for a country’s soft power: Its culture, political values, and foreign policies. In India’s case, this chapter suggests that all three are evident: A multilingual and multicultural society in a multiparty democracy, traditional family-oriented values, and autonomy in foreign policy. Evidence of such a foreign policy is India’s successful diplomatic effort to include the African Union (AU) in the G20, during its 2023 presidency. The growing global awareness and appreciation of India’s soft power – its IT industry, media, celebratory religiosity, yoga, Ayurveda, Bollywood, and diaspora – provides India with a good grounding to attract interest in Africa. This chapter maps these assets and examines how they are being promoted as a soft power resource by the Indian government, corporate houses with interests in Africa, and civil society groups.