In his presidential address Rajnath Singh threw light on almost all the issues starting from the social, political and economic issues, foreign policy and diplomatic strategies both at the domestic and international levels. The BJP chief said that the BJP-led NDA government had a grand vision for a comprehensive development to make India a global superpower. We established a new epoch in Indian politics and international diplomacy. ?Through the excellent diplomatic initiatives undertaken during the tenure of the NDA, we clearly established India as one of the military and economic powers of the world,? he addded. ?The indispensability of military power cannot be negated. It makes a nation into a ?Hard Power?. Any big country in the world can acquire this power. Military might can establish one'sawe but cannot ensure one'srespect, affection and oneness. For this a nation has to possess ?Soft Power or Gentle Power?. Under the NDA, we were even able to establish India'sinherent and eternal soft power in the world?, the BJP chief emphasised.
Rajnath Singh informed that the concept of Soft Power was propounded in 1990 by Harvard University'seminent intellectual Joseph Nye. In 2004, in his book titled ?Soft Power: The Means to Succeed in Global Politics? he explained how any country can influence global politics by combining cultural and emotional bonds with its social and economic power.
?Soft Power and Gentle Power can also be understood from a famous example. Hu Shih, China'sambassador to America from 1938 to 1942, and later the Vice Chancellor of Peking University from 1946 to 1948, had said that India culturally conquered and dominated China for 2000 years without ever having to send a single soldier across her border,? he added.
Shri Singh in his well documented speech said, ?I am only trying to say that during the tenure of the BJP-led NDA government and under the leadership of respected Atalji, India not only emerged as a Hard Power or Military-Economic Power but also emerged as a Soft Power or Gentle-Cultural Power in the world. Under us, India'sreal power evolved in a complete manner. In my opinion, this marked the real Bharat Uday or ?India Rising?. In politics, sometimes it takes many years to get the message across to the masses. I believe that after experiencing the mis-governance of the UPA government, the people of the country will be able to better understand how the real rise of India was taking place during the tenure of the NDA. If the people give us another opportunity to govern, then we will effectively establish India'srise before the entire country and the rest of the world.?
