India’s Buddhist diplomacy: More pilgrims, less travellers

Buddhist diplomacy provides direction on the ground. To draw more ASEAN visitors, our Buddhist diplomacy must blend reverence with joy

- PATRALEKHA CHATTERJEE

These are small, practical connections, but they matter.

India, the land of Buddha’s life and teachings, holds Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Rajgir, Nalanda, and the UNESCO-listed Mahabodhi Temple. Recent efforts—the touring of Buddhist sacred relics to Thailand, Kushinagar’s new airport, the Buddhist Circuit Train, and Nalanda’s revival—signal intent. Yet, the paradox endures: arrivals from Buddhist-majority nations remain negligible, just 0.005% of global adherents, notes the NITI Aayog—a startling figure for the land of the Buddha. The NITI Aayog report titled Promoting Spiritual Tourism in the Land of Buddha (2022) explains why the infrastructure is inadequate; tourist facilities are thin; multilingual guides are scarce; online marketing is weak; museums display relics but offer little interpretation; authentic arts and crafts shops are hard to find; tourist information centres are poorly managed; and road and rail connectivity is arduous, time-consuming, and sometimes unsafe.

The report also points out that India’s neighbours, including China, have taken several steps to promote Buddhist tourism in the recent past. Today, there may be a slight uptick in the number of visitors, but Southeast Asia, backed by solid infrastructure and temples woven into life, still draws the crowds.