In 2015, newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pulled off a major feat: He successfully persuaded the United Nations to declare June 21 as International Yoga Day. To mark the occasion in 2016, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the physical and other benefits of practicing yoga. His endorsement was widely seen as a new high for Indian soft power.
Since then, however, India’s soft power has steadily slipped away. Most recently, New Delhi’s feckless handling of large-scale farmers’ protests over new agricultural laws has won government criticism from social activists and cultural celebrities alike, including Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, and Susan Sarandon.
