Discuss the role of heritage conservation diplomacy in strengthening India's Act East Policy, with reference to the ASI's involvement in the Prambanan Temple restoration.

Q. Discuss the role of heritage conservation diplomacy in strengthening India's Act East Policy, with reference to the ASI's involvement in the Prambanan Temple restoration. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Heritage conservation diplomacy uses restoration of shared civilisational monuments as an instrument of statecraft. India's Act East Policy, while anchored in trade, connectivity and maritime security, draws its distinctive legitimacy from civilisational kinship with Southeast Asia — a link most visibly renewed in July 2026, when Prime Minister Modi and President Prabowo Subianto unveiled a plaque commencing the Archaeological Survey of India's conservation project at Indonesia's Prambanan Temple Complex [1].

Prambanan as a case of conservation diplomacy - The 9th-century Prambanan complex in Yogyakarta is Indonesia's largest temple complex dedicated to the Trimurti — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva — and a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1991 [1][3]. - The project originated in an understanding reached during President Prabowo's 2025 State Visit to India, showing sustained follow-through rather than symbolic gesture [1]. - Execution by the ASI (Ministry of Culture) positions India as an exporter of technical conservation expertise, alongside its earlier work at Angkor Wat and Cham temples.

How it strengthens Act East - Trust capital: heritage cooperation is non-transactional and non-threatening, building goodwill with ASEAN's largest economy that spills into defence, maritime and trade tracks of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership [2]. - Narrative advantage: it anchors India's presence in the region in shared history rather than competitive power projection. - Institutional depth: the visit also launched the "Tagore–Dewantara Year" (2026–27), marking the centenary of Tagore's 1927 Indonesia visit, and the gift of a replica c. 860 CE Sanskrit copper plate for Muara Jambi — embedding culture across education and people-to-people pillars [2].

Limitations - Soft power yields diffuse, slow returns and cannot substitute for trade concessions or capacity in hard-security domains. - India's own domestic conservation backlog constrains the scale of such external commitments.

Prambanan shows that conservation diplomacy works best as a force-multiplier — creating the political warmth within which economic and strategic agreements mature. Sustaining it requires adequate ASI resourcing, timely project delivery and pairing heritage initiatives with tangible connectivity and trade outcomes. Anchored in shared heritage and aligned with SDG 11.4 on protecting cultural heritage, such engagement can give Act East a durable civilisational foundation.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. Prime Minister visits the UNESCO World Heritage Prambanan Temple Complex — PIB, 2026 — Prambanan visit, plaque unveiling, ASI conservation project, 9th-century Trimurti temple, 2025 origin of the understanding 2. India–Indonesia Joint Statement on the State Visit by Prime Minister of India to Indonesia — PIB, 2026 — Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Tagore–Dewantara Year 2026–27, copper plate replica at Muara Jambi 3. Prambanan Temple Compounds — UNESCO World Heritage Centre — 1991 World Heritage inscription