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# PSIR: Write & Rise - 35
- URL: https://www.upscprep.com/psir-write-rise-35/
- Published: 2026-09-03T14:39:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-03T14:39:46.000Z
- Author: UPSCprep.com
- Tags: PSIR, Write and Rise

**How have the core values and ideals of the Non-Aligned Movement helped India strengthen its soft power in the service of its national interests? (15 Marks)**

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**Answer**

Shashi Tharoor observed that non-alignment granted India disproportionate global influence compared to its material power. That influence was not accidental. NAM's core values of sovereign equality, anti-colonialism, and peaceful coexistence gave India a normative platform from which it could convert moral leadership into concrete strategic gains.

**Moral Capital as Strategic Leverage**

By championing decolonisation and advocating the New International Economic Order, India positioned itself as the voice of the developing world. The goodwill accumulated across Africa and Asia through NAM solidarity translated directly into bloc support on Kashmir, backing for UNSC candidacies, and diplomatic cover during crises.

Nye theorised that states build power through attraction rather than coercion. India's NAM leadership was precisely that: influence built through attraction that served hard national interests without requiring hard power expenditure.

**Institutional Operationalisation**

NAM values remained abstract until India built institutions around them. The ITEC programme converted solidarity rhetoric into tangible technical cooperation, creating a long-term constituency of goodwill across the Global South.

The ICCR projected civilizational values through cultural centres, scholarships, and India Chairs abroad, embedding India's narrative in foreign public discourse. These were not symbolic gestures but deliberate instruments that operationalised NAM's universalism into ground-level soft power.

**Contemporary Dividends**

India's G20 presidency adopted *Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam* as its theme and advocated African Union membership, drawing directly from NAM's universalist spirit.

Shyam Saran argues these represent a modern adaptation of non-alignment's core logic: preserving independence while building partnerships. What began as moral positioning within NAM has become the normative foundation of India's claim to global leadership.

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**Neelam Bhatia, PSIR Faculty – UPSCPrep.com**  
[https://courses.upscprep.com/](https://courses.upscprep.com/?ref=upscprep.com)