Shashi Tharoor’s Impressive Take on India’s Soft Power

At TEDIndia, Shashi Tharoor, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs shared his views on what makes India a leading soft power across the globe. In Tharoor’s words, “In today’s world, it’s not the size of the army that wins. It’s the country that tells a better story”. And India through it pluralism and social development at home and over-arching reach of its cultural components abroad has been telling better stories, stories wrapped in awe and admiration that continue to surprise many across the globe.
For Tharoor, India is not a nationalism of ethnicity or religion, but nationalism of an idea. India is not a land where all people agree and abide by a consensus; but all agree on the ground rules of how to disagree and live without consensus.
Tharoor come across as one of the rare, articulate and knowledgeable politicians in India. No wonder he contents that Governments usually don’t tell the best stories. It takes a story writer and intellectual like Tharoor to voice an evident but understated fact about India’s potential.
Shashi Tharoor’s TEDIndia speech – a must listen for all Indians!