Dr. S. Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs, opened the first BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival which is known as SaptaSur: Seven Nations, One Melody in New Delhi. All of the BIMSTEC member countries, including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, performed in it. People-to-people interactions and the regional cultural diversity are the focus areas of the festival that is consistent with the Act East Policy and Neighbourhood First Policy of India.

Context

• The first ever BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival titled 'SaptaSur: Seven Nations, One Melody' was launched by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar in New Delhi.

Key Points

• Date: 5 August 2025

• Venue: Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi

• Organized by: Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)

The Importance of the Festival

• The first-of-its-kind cultural convergence of BIMSTEC countries in the form of music.

• Delivers the promise of PM Modi of promoting regional cultural cooperation expressed at the BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand (April 2025).

• Uses soft power diplomacy and empowers cultural diplomacy because of the exchange in art.

• Promotes unity of the region, respectfulness and shared culture between South and Southeast Asia.

About BIMSTEC

Conclusion

The BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival is the cultural landmark of India in the course of its multilateral outreach to other countries. The festival reinforces the regional ties by emphasizing on the cultural unity in variety, it further underlines Indian excellence in promoting the people driven regionalism relying on the soft power instruments, such as music and art, or cultural festivals.

On August 1, 2025, India actually launched the initial group of projects as a part of the India-UN Global Capacity Building Initiative – a radical diplomatic and development initiative that would help to build South-South cooperation and speed up the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Global South. The initiative has been a new step in the field of the development diplomacy of India and it has served as a reinforcement of its status of being a Vishwa Mitra (Global Partner).

Key Points

Background and Context

• In September 2023, then External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar announced, on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly, the India-UN Global Capacity Building Initiative.

• It attempts to combine the traditional Indian model of development partnerships with multilateral assistance by UN agencies, to come up with custom solutions to low income and developing countries.

• It complements the ITEC programme, which was the flagship India-origin programme, with a 58+ year history, that has trained 2.25 lakh+ participants to date, in more than 160 + countries.

Projects Launched Under Phase 1 (August 2025)

Importance of the Initiative

1. New Concept of South-South Cooperation

• It highlights the rampant and proactive leadership within the joint development diplomacy.

• Strengthens the partnerships free of conditionalities, which observe the national sovereignty and local priorities.

2. SDG-Centric Approach

• Targeted actions include putting an end to hunger (SDG 2 on ZERO Hunger), achieving good health (SDG 3 on Good Health), quality education (SDG 4 on Quality Education), decent work (SDG 8 on Decent Work) and partnerships to achieve the goals (SDG 17 on Partnerships to achieve goals).

3. Strategic Soft Power

• Amplifies the angle of India as a development partner, and not a donor.

• Increases the international position of India in international institutions such as BRICS, G-20, and Voice of Global South Summit.

4. Multilateral Synergy

• Includes organization by UN bodies, expertise, monitoring systems, and legitimated by the world community.

• Why Does it Matter to the Global South

• Most of the low-income countries are deprived of technical human capital and institutional readiness.

  • These projects provide

  • Technology transfer

  • Skill development

  • Design and “capacity building”

• Reduces vulnerability issues in the areas of public health, food security, and data governance, and post-COVID situations

India’s Development Diplomacy: Evolution and Scope

Challenges and Areas of Concern

Way Forward

• Intensify Local Alliances

  • Liaise with the community based NGOs and regional institutions in host countries to contextualize the content of training.

• Digital Platforms Across Scales

  • Increase hybrid and virtual modules to a broader reach with the help of systems like DIKSHA, e-Vidya, or Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

• Multi-Stakeholder Involvement

  • Include Indian startups, Indian universities and Indian tech providers in international capacity building missions.

• Outcomes-Based Framework

  • Ensure effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to be put into place with pre-determined SGD-linked indicators.

• Institutional Branding

  • These efforts should be institutionalized through the establishment of an India International Institute of South-South Cooperation.

Conclusion

The India-UN Global Capacity Building Initiative is a remarkable and auspicious beyond-national-certaincy stage for intensifying development democratization. It shows how India has moved on to provide knowledge and capacity sharing resources most especially to the Global South, no longer the aid recipient.