How New Delhi can optimize its hard and soft power by promoting cricket diplomacy as a soft-power tool to enhance India’s national influence in Maldives.
Authors
Anubhav Shankar Goswami, Doctoral Scholar, Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India; Research Associate, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi.
Pratyush Paras Sarma, doctoral scholar, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University; Co-founder, Northeast Development Agency (NEDA), an initiative by The Enajoree Foundation (TEF).
Summary
Recently, India has increased its engagement with Maldives. This development coincides with the growing strategic competition between India and China over the Indian Ocean’s littoral states. New Delhi has employed a range of hard- and soft-power instruments to operationalize India’s smart-power influence in Maldives.
However, the “India Out” protests and #saveaddu online campaigns have exposed the lack of equilibrium between India’s hard and soft power in its smart-power matrix. This study argues that India needs to prioritize its soft-power inputs in Malé to restore the balance in its smart-power matrix.
Therefore, the objective of this article is to offer recommendations on how New Delhi can optimize its hard and soft power by promoting cricket diplomacy as a soft-power tool to enhance India’s national influence in Maldives.
Published in: Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs
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