The Study Of Indian Buddhist Diplomacy During Modi Administration

In recent years,Modi has made it clear that India should no longer be a Balancing Power,but a Leading Power.Influenced by Modi’s ruling style,the practicability of India’s diplomacy is increasing.On the one hand,India’s Buddhism has received full attention,on the other hand,India’s Buddhist Diplomacy has gained a platform to display.From the perspective of Relational Public Diplomacy,this paper analyzes the practice of Buddhist Diplomacy of Modi government in India,and deeply analyzes its effectiveness and shortcomings.Since the 1990s,due to the growth of India’s national strength and foreign concept updating,Buddhism diplomacy has become an important part of India’s public diplomacy.The advantages for Indian Buddhism diplomacy are obvious.On the one hand,India is the birthplace of Buddhism and occupies an important position in the minds of Buddhists.On the other hand,India has inherited a large number of Buddhist heritage,including Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.The Indian government recognized that Buddhism is the "Spiritual Bond" between India and other Asian countries.Buddhism is also the important fulcrum for India to interfere in Asian affairs.Carrying out Buddhist Diplomacy will help to enhance India’s soft power,build more relation nodes and enrich its relation network.Therefore,the Indian government regard Buddhist Diplomacy as a gripper to "Act East Policy" and placed Buddhist Diplomacy in the primacy of India’s religious diplomacy.From the perspective of Zaharna’s Relational Public Diplomacy,Modi’s Buddhist Diplomacy can be understood as three levels of practice.At the level of individuals,Indian Buddhist Diplomacy emphasizes the role of individuals,promoting cultural exchanges with the help of leaders,scholars and students,enhancing influence and creating new relationship nodes.At the level of long-term programs,the Indian government has organized and funded programs related to Buddhist heritage restoration and cultural exchanges.Indian government also promoted Buddhism cultural communication between cities to form a long-term mechanism for cultural exchange.At the level of policy alignment and coordination,the Indian government actively participates in multilateral mechanisms,aligns relevant policies with the help of international platforms,and focused on expressing opinions and guiding the agenda,so as to strive for common interests.In addition,the Indian government is also carrying out transnational cooperation in Buddhist tourism with neighboring countries to build a Buddhist corridor.In terms of evaluation,on the one hand,Buddhist Diplomacy during Modi’s administration enhanced the relation network with foreign countries.From the perspective of vertical contrast,The Buddhist Diplomacy during Modi’s administration has inherited the achievements of previous administrations.It has pushed its international status,expanded its scope of influence,and stimulated the vitality of civil actors.From the perspective of horizontal contrast,Buddhist Diplomacy is different from Hinduism,Sikhism,Jainism and other religions in relation building,economic exchange,cultural soft power and other aspects.On the other hand,the development of Buddhist Diplomacy in India is also faced with many constraints:India’s religion is still dominated by Hinduism.As a result,it is difficult to get the support of the majority;the government’s limited governance made it a challenge to meet the needs of Buddhist Diplomacy.At the same time,the Indian government carried out the political manipulation during Buddhist Diplomacy so as to seek regional hegemony,which has an adverse effect on the Sino-Indian relations and the development of Buddhist Diplomacy.In the future,China should pay close attention to the development of Indian Buddhist Diplomacy,adhere to the concept of China’s Peripheral Diplomacy,summarize the results of existing policy and promote the Chinese Buddhist Diplomacy.