How to position sports as a pillar of India’s multipolar diplomacy
After Bangladesh’s newly appointed State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque signalled a desire to rebuild bilateral relations through dialogue and cooperation, a potential reset in ties between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could be on the horizon. In an era marked by simmering geopolitical tensions, such incidents emphasise the crucial role sports can play in building bilateral relations. Alongside sports, music and arts often emerge as a universal language that transcends national borders and battlelines. Sports, for instance, stand out for their human appeal and manifold societal, regional and global impacts. It serves as an important tool of soft power – a term coined by American political scientist Joseph Nye. Soft power refers to a state’s ability to influence people without using coercion or force to achieve its goals. Unlike hard power, which is often projected through military strength and economic sanctions, soft power relies on the appeal of culture, values, and policies and goes a long way in developing people-to-people ties. What …
