India’s soft power and strategic connectivity approach with regard to the Act East Policy formulated by the BJP Government to revitalise a shared culture in Southeast Asia will be a game changer
India is hosting the Asean-India commemorative summit with heads of the 10 Asean countries. These heads of Asean countries will be a part of the historic 69th Republic Day celebration today at India Gate. The event will mark 25 years of India’s ties with the southeast Asian grouping.
Asean, which comprises of leaders from 10 nations: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei, have already arrived and they will be the centre of attraction for Indians and also the world media. The rendezvous hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Asean leaders is very important when the present foreign policy of India is changing its term ‘look East’ policy to ‘Act East’ policy.
While this news has already been making headlines globally for quite some time, people are hardly aware of the profoundly shared culture between India and Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia was an integral part of Indic civilisation, and until 1400 AD, this region was under the direct influence of Bharat. ‘Bharat’ is called as ‘Barat’ in Bahasa Malaysia and ‘Bahasa’ Indonesia which means ‘West’, denoting the western frontier for the entire region. Countries of Southeast Asia, especially Myanmar, laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines, were a part of greater Bharat, where Indic civilisation thrived and later metamorphosed into a new localised form. Historical facts, existing common folklores and social ethos, speak volumes on the shared culture of greater Bharat fraternity.
Two great epics, namely the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and related mythological texts, emphasising the moral duty (Dharma) of mankind, became a major source for ethical and non-ethical pursuits at both individual and collective level. This civilisational heritage present in these countries, in the form of temples and stupas seek social harmony and peace the world over and calls for unity.
To the least, we talk about the influence of Indic civilisation in Southeast Asia is: The Philippines, which had deeply imbibed Hinduism: A 9th Century laguna Copperplate inscription found in 1989 has been written in Pallava alphabet with Sanskrit words. The Golden Agusan statue found in 1917, golden jewelry, rings with the image of Nandi and Hindu deities bear witness to Hinduism’s strong existence in the region. Indian epics and other mythological texts are greatly reflected in common folklores of other countries, like Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia exhibit similar traits.
However, the region, including India, witnessed several cultural changes emanating from waves of invasions and attacks from colonisers bringing a political consolidation which left people fragmented and oblivious to their past.
Common social issues: Once known for its harmonious and composite culture and strong social structures, societies in these countries seem to be fragmenting swiftly. The reasons are primarily attributed to the rapid pace of globalisation during the last three decades that prompted mass exodus of people from rural areas to cities, compelling them to adjust with the new consumerist and heterogeneous society.
This resulted in weakening of the common identity, in the process affording a unique opportunity to proselytisers to pry on both urban and remote regions. Needless to say, this directly compromised social harmony in these regions.
There has been renewed interest in reviving cultural identities in India and the Indic belt countries in Southeast Asia in recent years. The Governments of these countries are paying special attention to the revival of languages, culture, and local wisdom. This scenario has created a need for a renaissance in civil society and they view the cultural heritage of their countries as the most significant part of their self-identity.
The outreach of Indic culture in Southeast Asian countries was not a forceful or deliberate attempt but was a natural flow of vibrant culture, evident in every aspect of the lives of common people, acting as a perpetual reminder of the glory of our shared culture. Almost half of the total religions of the world originate from India and about half of the total population of the world adhere to Hinduism and Buddhism. Islam also made their way to Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, with the help of missionary Gujarati merchants. This means there is room for India to play a very important role to preserve the equilibrium of peace, prosperity and harmony in the region.
Certain characteristics in Indic culture, which were extensively responsible in influencing the Southeast Asian region, were its robust and active trade systems, land proximity, maritime connectivity, religion, shared mythology and strong monarchy.
The process of integration of Indian culture into the Southeast Asian region was not in the form of aggrandizement by contemporary Indian kings with their might, rather it was a spontaneous process, wherein integration happened as a result of a common culture.
Though India is considered as a source of their religions, a majority of Southeast Asian people consider Indic elements as not borrowed but their home-grown product, primarily because there was a lack of systematic historical texts and other details till the last phase of decline of the Majapahit empire during the 14th (in the present Indonesian archipelago) and Angkor (present Cambodia) in the 15th century, and there have been times when some of these regions ie Malaya, Sumatra, Java, and Brunei were infused with Islam before they got colonised by Westerns countries. All these changes led to waning, if not undermining of the strong base of Indic culture in the region.
The ‘soft power’, political, and strategic connectivity’ with regard to the Act East Policy formulated by the BJP-led Indian Government, primarily to revitalise shared culture with Southeast Asia, recently gained a renewed interest among the scholars who think that time has come for India to be an active player in the region. In order to do so, India has to consolidate and streamline its trade and maritime activities. This is necessary because of the strong potential of this region. This is expected to infuse new zeal in the of Act East policy.
Indian products have, through the course of time, gained trust for their quality and, accordingly, have never been subjected to any anti-dumping legislation which keeps it on an advantageous position compared to bigger power in the region. There is a greater need to reinvigorate the image of India as a source of their cultural and religious legacies and through which India can rebuild its lost heritage.
This will not only be in the interests of India but for the Asean countries as well. leaders in previous Indian Governments had failed to explore and exploit the ancient cultural and civilisational commonalities between India and Southeast Asia and accordingly failed to use India’s soft power. This failure of past Indian Governments represents a missed opportunity, and was reflected in its subdued response to the issue of development in the region. However, with the formulation of Act East Policy, things are bound to change in future.
(The writer is Assistant Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)