Dr Sarmila Bose spoke in London on 18 February at a day-long symposium on India as a Soft Power organized by the India Media Centre, University of Westminster in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and the Confederation of Indian Industry, UK.
Dr Bose argued that the diasporic dividend flowed in the opposite direction: that is, not from global Indians to the home country but from a rising India to Indians abroad whose collective position was enhanced by Indias improving status. She said that the primary sources of Indias soft power lay in India, not abroad. Her co-panellists included Andrew Whitehead (Editor News, BBC Worldservice) and the session was chaired by Professor Lord Parekh. It followed a keynote by Shashi Tharoor MP, former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, chaired by Jo Johnson MP. Dr Bose is a member of the international advisory board of the India Media Centre.
