(Kanti Bajpai is the author of ‘India Versus China: Why They Are Not Friends’. This column first appeared in the print edition of Indian Express on June 23, 2021, under the title ‘Losing the soft touch.’)
- China’s hard-power advantage over India — economic power plus military power — is well known. Less understood is its soft power advantage. Soft power is getting others to do what you want by persuasion. Soft-power theorists suggest that the ability to persuade rests on the power of attraction. We in India may think we are more attractive than China. The numbers show otherwise …
Also Read: Why Danish Siddiqui’s work makes him a hero: The Hindu