TABLE OF CONTENTS

SNO. 1 2 3 4 CONTENTS Introduction Discussion Conclusion Bibliography PAGE NO. 2 4 8 9

INTRODUCTION Mark Twain, American author:

~2~
"India is the cradle o the human race, the birthplace o human speech, the mother o history, the grandmother o legend, and the great grandmother o tradition! "ur most #aluable and most instructi#e materials in the history o man are treasured up in India only!" This paper is based on the internet article $why nations should pursue so t power%& by 'hashi Tharoor! The article mainly ocuses on how India is emerging as a world leader with its $so t power& and India has de#eloped, and he talks o telecommunications! 'o t power is a concept in#ented by a (ar#ard academic, )oseph *ye! It is the ability o a country to attract others because o its culture, its political #alues, and its oreign policies! $+ill only so t power make country a super power%& this ,uestion is brilliantly answered by Tharoor! (is words gi#e us a -usti ication that India has got a uni,ue diaspora in the globe! It talks about India.s so t power in terms o its music, its mo#ies, its cuisine and disciplines like /oga, Ayur#eda which ha#e spread all across the world! And also about India.s people, the scientists and doctors to mathematicians and so tware gurus who ha#e made the world o#er sit up and take notice o India, with #arious personal e0periences! Tharoor also talks o India.s rich heritage o 12 languages, innumerable scripts, its di#erse culture and religions! (e emphasi3es India.s democratic traditions and openness which go back hundreds o years! (e eels India is one4up on the 5nited 'tates, which had a 6resident o another race or the irst time in its history when it elected Barack "bama! India on the other hand has had di#erse leaders, rom all backgrounds and religions! " course it.s not as simple as he makes it sound, but it.s good to hear! +hat is true is that India is a di#erse plural democracy! Tharoor is cle#er enough to admit that India has a long way to go when it comes to economic de#elopment and acknowledges that unless India.s #ast human capital is underde#eloped, as long as India is $super poor&, it cannot call itsel a super power! In his #iew rom an e#eryday perspecti#e our culture traditions will matter to a man on the street more, as our economy grows and with that how you touch western li#es! ocuses on how much

~3~
*otice how )apanese culture went rom being -oked about in the 789:s to being respected by the a#erage man on the street in the early 8:s as their economy caught up with the west! India too has in concert with its economic progress increased its image greatly rom a land o mahara-as and snake4charmers to well! Today India is the world.s third largest economy in purchasing power and the second astest growing large economy! It is predicted that India.s growth will continue and that India will become a world power in another ew years! In his #iew this so t power o India is because o it being astonishingly connected! ;mpowerment o underclass is real result o India being really connected! This trans ormation is a part where India is really heading towards! At the end o it all, we need to remember that India is being respected more than earlier because we are now a $market& and ha#e some amount o economic power! India is ast becoming a superpower, says 'hashi Tharoor and not -ust through trade and politics, but through "so t power," its ability to share its culture with the world through ood, music, technology, Bollywood! As he says, "In today<s world, it<s not the si3e o the army that wins! It<s the country that tells a better story!"

DISCUSSION

~4~
'hashi Tharoor in his article in the year 1::8 about so t power has discussed #arious aspects which made India an emerging super power! (e has clearly mentioned the actors which are helping India in pursuing so t power! The notion o so t power is relati#ely new in international discourse! The term was coined by (ar#ard.s )oseph *ye to describe the e0traordinary strengths o the 5' that went well beyond American military dominance! *ye argued that $power is the ability to alter the beha#iour o others to get what you want, and there are three ways to do that: coercion =sticks>, payments =carrots> and attraction =so t power>! I you are able to attract others, you can economi3e on the sticks and carrots!& Traditionally, power in world politics was seen in terms o military power: the side with the larger army was likely to win! But the scenario is changing according to Tharoor! (e re ers to the concept o so t power and says that it is not the army power that decides, there is much more which matters a lot now! In the words o )oseph *ye $The so t power o a country rests primarily on three resources: its culture =in places where it is attracti#e to others>, its political #alues =when it li#es up to them at home and abroad>, and its oreign policies =when they are seen as legitimate and ha#ing moral authority>!& Coming to the culture o India Tharoor.s #iews are ama3ing and are wonder ully illustrated! India, a ci#ili3ation o di#erse cultures, languages, and spiritualties, is a uni,ue role model or the de#elopment o indigenous creati#e orces! In his #iew Indian nationhood is not the nationalism o ethnicity or language or religion, because we ha#e e#ery ethnicity known to mankind, practically! "ur country has been a welcome home or di erent cultures and religions, which makes our country a global capital! But this nature o India has been e0ploited by many people and made our country a dependent or decades! This e0ploitation made us ac,uainted with the western culture which is a good part! (is illustration o 1::? election scenario o Indian politics is worth speci ying, which states that: $The sight in May 1::? o a leader o @oman Catholic background ='onia Aandhi> making way or a 'ikh =Manmohan 'ingh> to be sworn in as 6rime Minister by a Muslim =6resident Abdul Balam> C in a country D1E (indu C caught the world.s imagination and won its admiration& Another corner stone or so t power is its p l!t!c"l #"lue $%$te& which is applied to both national and global scenarios! (is opinion on Indian politics is great

~5~
but in act it is what causing the down all o #alue system o politics in India! 6olitics in India is much rougher and much more corrupt that in the democracies o ;urope and *orth America! 6olitical assassination is not uncommon: the re#ered Mahatma Aandhi in 78?D, the 6rime Minister Indira Aandhi in 78D?, and the 6rime Minister @a-i# Aandhi in 7887 were all killed by assassins! Communal, caste and regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long4standing democratic and secular ethos! I this continues India can ne#er become a super power! A country.s ' re!() p l!c% is shaped by its sel 4perception, its image o the world and some ma-or inarticulate premises it has ormed o#er the years! India has always been good at maintaining a well matured relationship with the oreign countries which made the ocus light to turn towards India! According to news article read by me the writer elt the lack o an applicable body o theory and concluded that no practical and e ecti#e oreign policy can be de#eloped merely by the ingenious impro#isation o cle#er negotiators, brilliant tacticians, or master chess4players! 'uch a oreign policy has to be ounded on a philosophy that represents a realistic understanding o history! An ade,uate philosophy is no less important to our statesmanship today than it was to the statesmanship o our ounding athers! I we are to ha#e an e ecti#e oreign policy we need to base it on a conceptual scheme that re#eals and e0plains the world in terms that bear the test o practical application! 'uch an e0ercise cannot begin unless it is realised that the amiliar dogmas are o no rele#ance or worth! Tharoor stresses that or a country to lead the charts it is the empowerment o the underclass which enables the growth rom the root le#el! This can happen only with the help o &"$$ &e*!" ")* c &&u)!c"t! )! *ow the countries are increasingly being -udged by a global public that.s been ed on an incessant diet o Internet news, o tele#ised images, o cell phone #ideos, o email gossip, in other words, all sorts o communication de#ices are telling the stories o countries, whether or not the countries concerned want people to hear those stories! *ow, in this age, again, countries with access to multiple channels o communication and in ormation ha#e a particular ad#antage! And o course they ha#e more in luence, sometimes, about how they.re seen! India has more all4 news TF channels than any country in the world, in act in most o the countries in this part o the world put together! But this eature o India is being misused or sel 4propaganda! Bollywood is bringing its brand o glit3y entertainment not -ust to Indian diaspora in the 5!' or 5!B! but to the screens o 'yrians and 'enegalese C who may not understand (indi but catch the spirit o the ilms, and look at India with stars in

~6~
eyes as result! This has pro#ed that Indian culture is attracting people irrespecti#e o boundaries! Today, people in 'ilicon Falley and elsewhere speak o the IITs, the Indian Institutes o Technology, with the same re#erence they used to accord to MIT! Indian education system is also being globally recognised! "n the other hand the education in the rural areas diminishes this recognition! There are many others actors like population, growth rate, economy, military power etc! This gi#es a ma-or contribution or a country to emerge as a super power! Coming to the p pul"t! ) =human resource> India will o#ertake China by 1:2?! This population growth has to be taken as an asset rather as a burden by Indian go#ernment! +hen it comes to &!l!t"r% $tre)(t+ India has world.s ourth largest army! This is being a peace keeping orce or the world e#en! Is it nuclear capacity% India has that! The Americans ha#e e#en recogni3ed it, in a ormal agreement! Is it the economy% +ell, India has now the i th4largest economy in the world in purchasing power parity terms! And India continues to grow! +hen the rest o the world took a beating during crisis, India grew at G!H per cent! But in #iew o the writer, none o that adds up, to what he thinks India really can aim to contribute in the world, in this part o the 17st century! My #iews are not correlating with writer in this aspect because these actors de initely adds up in determining the so t power, because these are the actors which in luence oreign in#estments indirectly leading to the growth i the country! *ye himsel has admitted, $Drinking coke or watching a Bollywood ilm does not automatically con#ey power or the 5!'! or India! +hether the possession o so t power resources actually produces a#ourable outcomes depends upon the conte0t!& That conte0t is o ten one o hard geopolitics! 'o t power is one arrow in a nation.s security ,ui#er! It is not an all4purpose panacea! 'o I ha#e little patience or those who would nai#ely suggest that so t power can sol#e all our security challenges! A -ihadi who en-oys a Bollywood mo#ie will still ha#e no compunction about setting o a bomb in Mumbai and the 5!'! has already learned that the perpetrators o 8I77 ate their last dinner at a McDonald.s! To counter the terrorist threat there is no substitute or hard power! But where so t power works is in attracting enough goodwill rom ordinary people to reduce the sources o support and succour that the terrorists en-oy, and without which they cannot unction! This means we also need to sol#e our internal problems! +hen *ye wrote o the prospects or India de#eloping its so t power, he obser#ed that our country $still aces

~7~
challenges o po#erty with 1G: million people sur#i#ing on less than one dollar a day, ine,uality tied to a caste system, and corruption and ine iciency in the pro#ision o public ser#ices!& In other words, until we can tackle and eliminate such problems, the negati#e perceptions they generate will continue to undermine our appeal!

CONCLUSION As we speak o le#eraging our so t power, we must also look within! +e must ensure that we do enough to keep our people healthy, well ed, and secure not -ust

~8~
rom -ihadi terrorism but rom the grinding terror o po#erty, hunger and ill4health! 6rogress is being made: we can take satis action rom India.s success in carrying out three kinds o re#olutions in eeding our people C the $green re#olution& in ood grains, the $white re#olution& in milk production and, at least to some degree, a $blue re#olution& in the de#elopment o isheries! But the bene its o these re#olutions ha#e not yet reached the third o our population li#ing below the po#erty line, a line drawn -ust this side o the uneral pyre! +e must ensure they do, or our so t power will ring hollow, at home and abroad! At the same time, i we want to be a source o attraction to others, it is not enough to attend to these basic needs! +e must preser#e the precious pluralism that is such an asset in our globali3ing world! "ur democracy, thri#ing ree media, contentious *A"s, energetic human rights groups, and the repeated spectacle o our remarkable general elections, ha#e all made o India a rare e0ample o the success ul management o di#ersity in the de#eloping world! But e#ery time there is a Babri Mas-id or a pogrom like the sa#agery in Au-arat in 1::1, India.s so t power su ers a huge setback! Those who condoned the killings in Au-arat ha#e done more damage to India.s national security than they can e#en begin to reali3e! India must reclaim its true heritage in the eyes o the world! India.s ethos has been an immeasurable asset or our country! Jet us not allow the spectre o religious intolerance and political opportunism to undermine the so t power that is India.s greatest asset in the world o the 17st century! Maintain that, and true world leadership in promoting global security C the kind that has to do with principles, #alues and standards C will ollow!

BIBLIOGRAP,-

~9~