India’s Rise at the Cost of Its Diversity and Regional Goodwill/AK Haq

India once enjoyed a remarkable advantage in South Asia. For the Global North, it served as a gateway to the wider region, while its cultural influence extended far beyond its borders. Indian cinema, television, music and literature travelled to places where official diplomacy often struggled to reach. Bollywood crossed borders with ease, Indian television entered homes across the region, and cultural exchange quietly performed the work of foreign policy. This soft power helped India build familiarity, goodwill and influence among its neighbours over decades.

That image, however, began to change after 2014, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power. A series of increasingly polarising policies and political narratives has weakened much of the goodwill India had accumulated over the years. The growing emphasis on Hindutva and the idea of transforming India into a Hindu-majoritarian state have raised serious concerns about the country’s commitment to pluralism. While India’s rivalries with its neighbours are rooted partly in geopolitics, the situation becomes considerably more troubling when external conflicts and nationalism begin shaping domestic politics. Muslims, in particular, increasingly find themselves viewed through the prism of India’s rivalry with Pakistan. For a country whose greatest strength has historically been its diversity, this is a dangerous direction.

Recent international concerns have further highlighted the problem. A UN committee has expressed grave concern over alleged large-scale violations by Indian law-enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, Scheduled Castes, Dalits and non-citizens. The allegations include excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence. The committee has called for such allegations to be properly investigated and for those responsible to be held accountable. It has also specifically drawn attention to the need to address hate crimes against Bengali-speaking Muslims. Such findings are deeply troubling for any democracy and raise questions about the direction in which India is heading.

The concerns are not confined to official reports. In Mumbai, thousands of Christians are reportedly preparing for a new and disturbing kind of Sunday ritual: signing forms declaring that they are attending church voluntarily and are not being subjected to forced conversion. Some churches have installed CCTV cameras, while prayer meetings have reportedly been disrupted by Hindu right-wing groups. Religious institutions are consequently preparing for possible attacks. Ideally, no citizen should ever have to prove that they entered a place of worship voluntarily. A congregation should not have to document its innocence before holding a religious service, and a church should not have to function as though worship itself could become a criminal act.

These developments point to a problem that is larger than any single law, political speech or isolated incident. They indicate the gradual normalisation of suspicion. When a society begins to treat minorities as potential threats, citizens are forced to demonstrate their innocence rather than simply exercise their constitutional rights. Over time, such an environment does not merely affect the targeted communities; it changes the character of the entire country.

The BJP-led government may believe that muscular nationalism strengthens India, but nationalism that alienates minorities at home can also undermine the country’s standing abroad. A nation’s international image is not shaped only by its military strength, economic size or diplomatic influence. It is also shaped by how it treats its own citizens. When domestic polarisation becomes increasingly visible to the outside world, it inevitably affects how other countries and societies perceive the country.

A recent Pew Research Centre survey illustrates the challenge. Across 36 countries, a median of only 45 per cent of respondents viewed India positively, while 41 per cent viewed it negatively. Last month, a US panel on religious freedom also expressed concern over a visit to the United States by the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist organisation regarded as the ideological parent of the BJP, and called for sanctions against members of the group.

India’s current trajectory therefore carries a significant diplomatic cost. The BJP may gain political advantage from polarisation at home, and such politics may help the ruling party consolidate power for years to come. But political gains achieved through division can come at the expense of a country’s long-term reputation. India’s regional goodwill, painstakingly built through culture, diplomacy and its image as a pluralistic democracy, is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

India once presented itself as a beacon of pluralism in a diverse and complex region. Today, however, its increasingly majoritarian politics risks turning that image on its head. By prioritising short-term political objectives over social cohesion, India may win applause from sections of its domestic audience, but it risks losing something far more valuable: the respect, trust and confidence of its neighbours and international partners.