A new avenue
India has tried aid diplomacy, back
channel diplomacy and the much talked about cricket diplomacy. These might have
worked at a government to government level with different success levels. What
is still lacking is India’s
effort to establish people to people contact, not just with its immediate
neighbours but also with its near abroad. India’s relationship with its
neighbours has not been smooth. Wars, political tensions, illegal crossing
over, etc have kept India
away from its neighbours (it is slowly changing of late).
Attempts like SAARC hardly helped
in increasing people to people contact.
India has its overseas cultural
unit known as the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR). It provides
scholarships, organises cultural events and institutionalised chairs in various
countries across the world. Awareness about
India
has increased in the past few years (more because of its economic fortunes than
ICCR), flow of people into
India
and is still limited. Tourism statistics available for the year 2009 suggest
that
India
received under a million tourists from the SAARC countries. That is just 17% of
its total tourist arrivals.
India’s
near abroad has not been any better, contributing a mere 10% of
India’s
total tourist arrivals (see chart).
Is India listening?
So what is wrong with India? In the
past couple of years India
ran the most successful ad campaign abroad. The “Incredible India!”
campaign proved immensely popular in western countries and won several awards.
It also helped boost India’s
tourist arrivals in the years followed by the campaign. Having done so much, India’s
immediate neighbourhood has largely ignored it. Attracting its neighbours will
serve dual purpose for India.
An increase in tourist arrivals will give a boost to the industry in terms of
higher foreign exchange receipts and increase people to people contact.
Buddha and places associated with
his life can be the key to India’s
potential to attract its neighbours. There are several sites in eastern Indian states
of Bihar, Jharkhand & Uttar Pradesh, which
are significant due to various important incidents in Buddha’s life. India’s Buddhist tourism if developed properly
has the potential to attract 1.4 billion people from Bhutan
to Japan.
Countries like Indonesia and
Thailand
practice a religion, which is a mix of Buddhism and Hinduism. That makes all of
India
available for them to explore.
India’s ministry of tourism needs
more than just feasibility reports to develop Buddhist tourism. The three
states (Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh) where Buddha spent most of his life
are the least developed in modern India. Basic infrastructure like
surface and air connectivity, utilities like water and electricity and good
hotels are conspicuous by their absence. Given the deep religious affiliation
of the eastern countries a marketable product from India
will be appreciated by Buddhists in East Asia.
The potential is huge but there is no political will to extract it. Private
investments can quickly create infrastructure and put the region on the
international tourism map.
Given the cultural and linguistic
differences between India and
rest of East Asia, Buddhist tourism can be one
common link, which can connect the people. Once people get to know a country
better, it opens a lot of doors. Cultural exchanges, identifying common ground,
increased confidence due to familiarity of a country will go a long way in
indirectly attracting investment in India
and exporting products and services to East Asia. It is time India uses tourism diplomacy to win over the neighbours.
Attempts like SAARC hardly helped
in increasing people to people contact. 
