India has a pride of place among the comity of nations with strong credentials in the arena of soft power. Identifying the key attributes of India's soft power, assess the extent to which it has been leveraged in India's foreign policy matrix.

Key attributes of India's soft power: 1) Cultural heritage :- Buddhist and Hindu religions and foreign policy based on it. 2) Constitutional values :- Indian constitution embodying values of secularism, 'Unity in Diversity', etc. 3) Multi-religious society :- Living in toleration is an example for the world. 4) Values of democracy :-

Propagating from Ancient times of Satha, Samith, etc. 5) Bollywood :- Recently Bollywood, in songs, dance, actors and actress acting as a player of soft-power. 6) Yoga, meditation :- Ancient practices of yoga, meditation. International day of yoga on 21st June. India's soft power - leveraged in foreign policy matrix: 1) One of the pillar of persuasive foreign policy 2) Buddhist foreign policy with countries of South-East Asia, China, etc. 3) Hindu idea of foreign policy in its immediate neighborhood. 4) Bollywood having influence in Gulf countries with few songs like Nam Nam during Oscar award.

— ABHISHEK ABHAY · AIR 336