Question

Though soft power can be a good source of cementing ties, hard economic relations provide a strong base to bilateral relations. Analyze with reference to India's relation with Latin American countries.

Answer 1

Approach:

• Introduce by giving an overview of the ties with Latin America, including its relatively early stage.
• Explain how soft power is a way of cementing ties with the region.
• Give the limitations of soft power as a tool to improve ties.
• Explain how economic relations act as the basic foundation of the ties and soft power is useful only at later stage.
• Conclude by highlighting some of the initiatives taken by India to improve ties with the region, building upon both hard and soft power.