NEW DELHI, Dec 13: India has seen an “unprecedented” cultural revival in the last eight years and has emerged as the number one soft power, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday.
He also said that while people see hard power aspects such as development of infrastructure, science and defence, they tend to forget the cultural revival the country has witnessed due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is time people take note of the cultural revival too which has been “unprecedented” in the last eight years after the BJP came to power, he told reporters here.
The Government has been making efforts to culturally connect various states and regions and the Kashi Tamil Sangamam event is a good example, Rijiju said.
The Kashi Tamil Sangamam event is a programme to celebrate, reaffirm and rediscover the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Varanasi.
The Union minister said now India has emerged as the number one soft power as the world acknowledges New Delhi’s importance. The respect Indians command in foreign lands now is an acknowledgment of its soft power status, he said.
The Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh said with the UDAN scheme, airports have come up at tourist centres and smaller cities. One of the latest being the Donyi Polo airport in Itanagar, he said.
The Indian Railways is also launching 190 theme-based Bharat Gaurav trains focussed on experience of Indian culture and heritage, Rijiju said.
Prime Minister Modi, even in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio programme, makes it a point to wish the country for a festival or cultural event that may be celebrated in just one part so that people are aware of cultures in different parts of India, he noted.
Explaining the cultural linkages between different regions, he wrote on Twitter that as per legend, Rukmini from Arunachal Pradesh was ‘heroically kidnapped’ by Lord Krishna to prevent her from being forced into an unwanted marriage. They travelled to Madhavpur Ghed and married.
“Today, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh celebrate this common ancient heritage together,” he said sharing a picture of a cultural event related to it. Buddhist tourist circuits and cultural experiences with matching infrastructure be it Kushinagar or Bodhgaya has been attracting devotees from across the globe. It has also been a key element of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Act East’ policy from Mongolia to Nepal, he said. (PTI)
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