The Impact of Religion on India’s Cultural Strategy

　　ABSTRACT: A cultural strategy is based on cultural resources and represents an organic element of the comprehensive strategy serving a state’s general interests. Religion represents one of the key contents of India’s cultural resources and fundamentally impacts India’s cultural strategy. India’s religions include Hindi, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and other indigenous religions, as well as two major religious imports: Islam and Christianity. In other words, India has an extremely rich and diverse religious heritage in both form and practice. In contemporary times, local religions have featured prominently in India’s cultural strategy, which emphasizes an Indo-centric consciousness, independence and self-determination, an awareness of inter-faith fraternity and non-violence. This has created a consensus at both state and societal levels and coalesced into an Indian national sentiment, while also providing support to the development of India’s foreign relations and enhancing its comprehensive state power.