Cultural diplomacy in the new context to unlock national development resources - From the practical experience of Vietnam-India relations

Abstract

Cultural diplomacy is no longer considered as an accessory to “hard” foreign policies, but as a tool for the mobilization of a country's development resources: political trust, markets, investments, tourists, students, knowledge and heritage. In this Study, this mobilisation is explored in practice by analysing the case of Vietnam–India relations, one of the most vibrant bilateral relations in the Indo-Pacific. The study (i) reconstructs the historical and institutional foundations of the relationship, (ii) assembles available indicators of trade, investment, aviation connectivity and tourism for the period 417-431, and (iii) develops a six-dimensional Resource Conversion Index that scores how effective cultural and people-to-people channels have been translated into development outcomes. According to the results, bilateral trade increased from around US$0.2 billion in 2000 to US$5.43 billion in 2016 and US$16.46 billion in 2025; direct air transport rose from zero in 2016 to almost 100 aircraft flights per week and about 800,000 Indian passengers in Vietnam in 2025. The Resource Conversion Index has averaged 46 out of 100, with the most advanced channels being those of tourism and aviation services (80), and digital-payment connectivity (16) and the heritage-based cultural industries (32) being the least. The Study posits that cultural affinity is most successfully transformed into resources in Vietnam and India when it comes with physical linkage and institutional arrangements, and least when it is merely declaratory. It ends with a prioritised policy agenda for the “Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” and its 2030 trade target of US$25 billion.