One of the most charismatic and popular leaders of all times, not just in India but globally, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s every act and decision has been nothing but a step in furthering India’s leadership and cultural heritage on world fora. His contributions as the nation’s cultural ambassador are closely intertwined with the country’s growth story in the present and with India’s fight for independence about seven decades ago.
They say, a leader is one who leads by example and Narendra Modi has continued to do so since the very beginning of his tenure as the leader of the country. From projecting yoga as an Indian practice on international fora, to commemorating forgotten heroes of India’s struggle for Independence and the leaders who helped build the young nation such as Sardar Patel, Netaji Bose, Bhagat Singh, Lal Bahadur Shastri, etc. in the right light, Narendra Modi has redefined meaning of the word ‘leader’.
A born leader
Narendra Damodardas Modi was born on 17 September 1950 in a small town called Vadnagar, Mehsana district in Bombay (present-day Gujarat). His parents Damodardas Modi and Hiraben Modi had six children in all. Damodardas used to make tea at the Vadnagar Railway Station and his son would sell it to the passengers.
Being born three years after India got freedom; Narendra Modi was the first Prime Minister to be born in independent India. As a child, Modi learnt a lot through life experiences and would balance his studies and extracurricular activities to take out time and help his father at the tea stall. He was particularly fond of reading books and swimming.
Among the many personalities who inspired Modi was Swami Vivekananda whose teachings helped shape Modi’s life. At an early age he decided to pursue the mission to fulfil Swami Vivekananda’s dream of making India a ‘jagat guru’.
A born seeker, Modi left home at the tender age of 17 to travel across India and understanding people and cultures. Soon after he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Ahmedabad and became a pracharak and got into a tough, disciplined life.
Gifted with great organisational skills, he joined politics in the late 1980s and delivered results soon after. First, he won a victory for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation elections for the first time ever and later, in the 1995 Gujarat Assembly Elections his efforts led the winning of 121 seats in the state assembly.
From organising to executing
In September 2001, the-then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee brought Modi from organisational politics to governance. In Gujarat, the-then Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel’s ill health led the party to replace him with Narendra Modi. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister on 7 October 2001 and entered the Gujarat state legislature by winning a by-election in Rajkot-II constituency.
Narendra Modi is the longest serving Chief Minister of Gujarat till date. He led the state for 12 years and 227 days through two assembly elections. He soon entered the national arena and in September 2013 he was named the BJP candidate for PM ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. During the election campaign, he used social media and technology extensively and the party made a historic and landslide victory by winning 282 seats in the Lok Sabha.
For the next general elections in 2019, Modi was again named the BJP candidate for prime minister. The BJP received 37.36 per cent of the vote and won 303 seats which was the highest vote share by a political party since the 1989 general elections in India.
Furthering cultural diplomacy
During his tenure as the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has taken several initiatives to further India’s cultural richness and heritage across the world. He has effectively used India’s culture and history to promote the country’s global image and has been successful too.
There have been constant efforts to revive institutions and mechanisms that strengthen India’s position in this sphere. For example, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) – an autonomous body that formulates and implements policies and programmes relating to India’s external cultural relations; fosters cultural relations between India and other countries; promotes cultural exchange with other countries and peoples.
In April 2022, the ICCR launched an India Alumni Portal to connect with foreign students around the world who have studied in India. It must be noted that the India Alumni Portal was developed in line with PM Modi’s vision to connect all foreign scholars who have studied in India as they are ‘India’s best ambassadors, offering invaluable soft projection across their personal and professional lives.’ To engage the alumni in the best possible ways, Indian missions overseas will form alumni associations in their respective countries and celebrate an alumni day.
Under the aegis of the Modi government, ICCR has undertaken several initiatives to further cultural diplomacy. These include organising cultural festivals in India and abroad through cultural centres, offering scholarships and fellowships to encourage studies in India, empanelling yoga teachers to send them abroad to teach yoga, etc. ICCR has been offering scholarships for almost four decades to foreign students and now, through the portal, it aims to create a platform for the cultural ambassadors of India.
Reclaiming yoga and spirituality
One of PM Modi’s biggest contribution as a cultural ambassador is International Day of Yoga. On 27 September 2014, during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Modi put forth his suggestion for the occasion of a ‘Yoga Day’. The draft resolution was endorsed by a record number of 177 member states and consequentially, the first International Day of Yoga was observed around the world on 21 June 2015.
During his speech at the UNGA, Modi said, “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help in well-being. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.”
In 2015, the Reserve Bank of India issued a 10-ruppe commemorative coin to mark the International Day of Yoga and in 2017, UN Postal Administration issued 10 stamps on asanas on a single sheet to mark the International Day of Yoga.
For the first International Day of Yoga, the Ministry of AYUSH made necessary arrangements in India where 35,985 people, including the PM himself and dignitaries from 84 nations, performed 21 asanas for 35 minutes at Rajpath in New Delhi. This was the largest yoga class ever held with the largest number of participating nations.
Improving ties with China
In October 2019, PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their Second Informal Summit in Chennai, India. The two exchanged views on the age-old commercial linkages and people-to-people contacts between India and China in the past two millennia, including significant maritime contacts.
They agreed on establishing sister-state relations between Tamil Nadu and Fujian Province, exploring the possibility of establishing an academy to study links between Mahabalipuram and Fujian province on the lines of the experience between Ajanta and Dunhuang and conducting research on maritime links between China and India.