- Minister calls PM Modi India’s biggest brand ambassador.
- Modi’s image now shapes global perception of India.
- Past perceptions linked India primarily to Mahatma Gandhi.
Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now India’s “biggest brand ambassador”, replacing the long-standing global association of the country with Mahatma Gandhi.
In an interview with PTI Videos, the minister said India’s culture, heritage, festivals and cuisine remain central to the country’s identity, but argued that the image of a national leader also shapes how the world perceives a country.
‘India’s Identity Was Stuck With Gandhiji’
Shekhawat said that until 10-15 years ago, India’s global image was largely linked to Mahatma Gandhi.
“Till 10-15 years ago, if you went to any country in the world and if you asked a person, based on his appearance, whether he was an Indian, he would hesitate in calling himself an Indian. He would introduce himself as an Asian,” the minister told PTI earlier this week.
“Then, if you asked him, where in Asia he was from, he would say that I am an Indian,” he added.
The Union minister further said that if someone introduced themselves as an Indian abroad, the immediate response often was, “India! Oh, Mr Gandhi”.
“Shekhawat said the image and identity of India remained ‘stuck with Gandhiji’.”
‘Today People Say: India! Oh, Mr Modi’
Drawing a contrast with the present, Shekhawat said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transformed India’s global perception.
“But today, and I say it with confidence, you can go to any country in the world… from the smallest Caribbean island to America, and from South Asia to West Asia, you can go anywhere, and if you tell someone that ‘I am from India’, you will see a bright smile on his face, and an exclamation, ‘India! Oh, Mr Modi’.”
When asked whether India’s bigger brand ambassador was culture, tourism or Bollywood, Shekhawat replied, “Nowadays, the biggest brand ambassador we have is our prime minister.”
“Otherwise also, this is not a political reply. I am saying this as a layman. Like we just said, till 10-15 years ago, Gandhiji was the brand ambassador of India for decades. And now Modiji is the brand ambassador of India,” he said.
‘Culture Of India Is The Identity Of India’
The Union minister said India’s culture remains the country’s enduring identity.
“But the culture of India is the brand ambassador of India. And the culture of India is the identity of India in itself,” Shekhawat said.
He argued that while culture and heritage define a nation’s essence, the image of its leader can significantly influence how the country is viewed globally.
“And when the image of a country changes, it inevitably impacts the country’s tourism, and the attraction towards that country gets augmented,” the tourism minister said.
Tourism Numbers Could Touch 100 Crore By 2047
Shekhawat expressed confidence that foreign tourist arrivals in India would rise sharply in the coming decades.
“The change that has taken place gives India leverage and gives the confidence and conviction that foreign tourist arrivals in India will grow from 10 crore at present to 100 crore by 2047,” he said.
He also said tourism would emerge as one of the biggest beneficiaries of India’s expected economic growth and infrastructure development.
‘Incredible India’ To ‘Inevitable India’
Asked whether tourism should receive strategic importance similar to the IT sector, Shekhawat said the sector had not yet received equivalent attention but added that Prime Minister Modi had moved rapidly in that direction.
“All the missions of India have been told that one of the parameters for assessing their performance will be the number of tourists coming to India from that country. So, now the missions are also on the job, and everyone is on their toes,” he said.
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When asked what India’s global tourism identity was, especially compared to South Korea’s K-Pop or Thailand’s hospitality branding, Shekhawat replied, “It is Incredible India. And, now we are taking it to Inevitable India.”
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