Paper short abstract:

The benign Indian Soft Power is deliberately formulated through norms interaction; however, its implementation varies based on India's mutual understanding with another country. India's relations with Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam emphasise economic, cultural and political entities, respectively.

Paper long abstract:

Rising internationally, Indian Soft Power has been deliberately formulated through the interaction of norms, idea and thought. In general, Indian core values bring about the benign and non-aggressive foreign policies; however, the mutual understanding in bilateral relations differently shapes the implementation of her foreign policy towards a particular state. This paper uses the constructivist approach to comparatively scrutinise and differentiate specific norms and diplomatic mechanism in Indian Soft Power towards Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam from 1947 until now. The study is conducted during the filed research in Southeast Asia with documentary research and interviews with key informants; diplomats, scholars, officials and diaspora. It shows that India generally engages and cultivates with these countries based on thousands years of civilisational entities, especially Buddhism and Hinduism. Art and performance troops have been dispatched for cultural exchange. Educational scholarships and human resources' capacity building programs have been offered to strengthen people-to-people contact. Particularly, Indian relationships with Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia are implemented differently based on norms and soft power. Regarding Thailand, facilitating a better environment with physical (maritime-land links) and intellectual (Gandhi-King Bhumibol) connectivities enforces their economic cooperation. In case of Vietnam, anti-colonialism during the struggle for independence and the Ho Chi Minh - Nehru goodwill lay down the foundation of friendship between two nations and improve their political strategic partnership. For Cambodia, the cultural aspect has been emphasised through the restoration of Indian influenced-Khmer civilisation supporting Cambodia local tourism industries.