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Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Wednesday termed the Indian Cinema as the country's soft power. The term soft power was coined by scholar Joseph Nye in his 1990 book “Bound to Lead”. According to Nye, soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction than coercion. The concept initially designed for Academic Studies is pronounced in the International Relations today.

India's soft power.

The basic foundation of India’s soft power is its history and culture. India due to its rich History and Culture has attracted world scholars to its land. India’s cosmopolitan society with its born and established religious system is an asset.

Indian Diaspora – Indian diaspora is one of the highest in the world. Indian diaspora act as ambassadors in promoting the country's rich tradition and culture. There has been a conscious effort in recent years to reach out to and utilize this power in recent years.

Yoga – In 2014, in a major boost to India’s soft power, the United Nations decided to celebrate June 21, as the International Yoga Day. Etymologically the word yoga has a Sanskrit root, meaning ‘union’. Emphasis on Yoga during covid and its power of healing is well acknowledged across the world now.

The concept of yoga is also being popularized by ICCR, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, an autonomous body under the Ministry of External Affairs, through its teaching programs abroad. The ICCR has been assigned the responsibility of facilitating the celebrations of Yoga Day since 2015.

Founded in 1950, the ICCR's objective is to actively participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes pertaining to India’s external cultural relations.

The power in International Relations has been defined as the ‘the ability of A to influence B’ to do something. In this context, the ‘soft power is seen, more as a process than the final product. The process of propagation and attraction are latent in nature, whose influence is felt in diplomatic decisions.