INDIA'S CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AT PLAY IN SCO

What it means to get Varanasi nominated as the Tourism and Cultural Capital at the 2022 SCO Summit?

- Dr. Sreshtha Chakraborty

Over the last few decades, India's cultural diplomacy has started playing an important role in its foreign policy. It especially became relevant with the establishment of the Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs in 2006. This rightfully coincided with India's need to project its image at the world level and leverage its pluralistic culture. Culture is both tangible and intangible but it plays a crucial role in shaping and reshaping the development agenda of a State.

Therefore, Cultural Diplomacy which is a subset of Public Diplomacy aims to promote a greater perception of India and meet its foreign policy goals. India in recent times incorporated five important elements in soft power projection which re-emphasized cultural and civilizational linkages (Sanskriti evam Sabhayata). India found a voice through the nomination of Varanasi as the Cultural and Tourism Capital of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for 2022-2023.