In the past 25 years, there have been several changes in India’s foreign policy. Some of these changes are a strong reiteration of the fact that foreign policy has several layers and multiple stakeholders. These changes include: the growing importance of state governments in India’s ties with the outside world – this phenomenon is referred to as ‘para-diplomacy’. The second is the increasing importance of the Indian Diaspora in India’s external outreach and the third is the increasing role of what is dubbed as ‘Soft Power’ in India’s foreign policy. While these issues are often viewed in silos, there are close linkages between all three.
Recent examples of Para-diplomacy, Soft Power and Diaspora outreach
Sub-national Economic Diplomacy and Diaspora Angle
Two recent developments are important in this context – both happened to be linked to states from Southern India. The first is Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s outreach towards the Telugu Diaspora during his visit to Singapore (July 26-30, 2025). Naidu had gone in his own words to ‘re-establish brand AP in Singapore’. The Andhra Pradesh CM highlighted some of the important steps being taken in AP and highlighted his emphasis on the Amaravati project, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, which had slowed down during the previous dispensation of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (2019-2024). Singapore had supported AP in the development of Amaravati, during Naidu’s previous tenure; several Singaporean companies, however, pulled out when Jagan Mohan Reddy took over as CM.
During his visit, Naidu met senior officials of the Singapore government. Several areas of cooperation were discussed, including the development of Amaravati. While urging Singapore to participate in the development of Amaravati, Naidu said: “You should be partners in Amaravati’s housing projects. Singapore has already given us a master plan for the capital. The World Bank is also supporting the development…”
Apart from important infrastructural projects in AP, and the involvement of Singapore companies in areas like eco-tourism, green energy and real estate the issue of greater air connectivity between the South-East Asian nation and the Southern Indian state was also flagged.
One of the important highlights of his trip was his interaction with the Telugu Diaspora from Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia. During his interaction with the Telugu Diaspora, the AP CM said: ‘Many Telugu people hold key positions in prominent organisations abroad. Such individuals can share their experiences with AP. They can invest or be service providers. Whatever you wish to do, the government is ready to fully cooperate.’
In his tenure as CM of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh (1995-2004), Naidu had reached out to global investors, including Microsoft and had been hailed for his business-like and professional approach and sharp focus on drawing big-ticket investments in the IT Sector, especially in Hyderabad (now capital of Telangana).
The Andhra Pradesh CM also reached out to the Diaspora in the US during this tenure. Later, during his first stint as CM of the newly carved out AP, he was equally proactive in terms of outreach towards foreign investors – especially from East Asia and South-East Asia. Other Indian CMs have also been becoming more proactive in their endeavours to draw investment and seeking to harness their respective diasporas for drawing investment to their states.
Soft Power and Diaspora angle
Another interesting development which highlights the importance of Diaspora communities as well as ‘Soft Power’ is the decision of not just Indian companies, but also Singapore companies to give their Tamil workers a paid holiday on account of the release of the film ‘Coolie’ – a Rajnikanth starrer.
Not only were workers given a holiday, but their expenses were paid for. Malaysia, like Singapore, is home to a sizeable Tamil Diaspora. In September 2023, during his visit to Malaysia, the South Indian star met with Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim. After their meeting, the Malaysian PM had remarked: “Today I received a visit from the Indian film star, Rajinikanth, who is a familiar name on the Asian and international art world stages.”
The decision of Singapore companies clearly reiterates the importance of both “Soft Power” and the Diaspora.
In conclusion, both developments discussed during this article reiterate the fact that foreign policy can not be viewed solely from traditional approaches and new dimensions need to be included. One of the aspects which emerges from both Naidu’s Singapore visit and Singapore companies granting leave to their employees for viewing ‘Coolie’ is the importance of ‘Diaspora’. While economic diplomacy is an important part of outreach by state governments, including Andhra Pradesh, it is tough to ignore the ‘Soft Power’ component.
[Photo by Rajiv Bhuttan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Tridivesh Singh Maini is a New Delhi based analyst interested in Punjab-Punjab linkages as well as Partition Studies. Maini co-authored ‘Humanity Amidst Insanity: Hope During and After the Indo-Pak Partition’ (New Delhi: UBSPD, 2008) with Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik. He can be reached at tridivesh80@hotmail.com.
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