Traditional medicine as soft power: evaluate India's institutional efforts to integrate Ayush into mainstream and global healthcare.

Soft power means drawing other countries in by attraction rather than force. For India, Ayush is such an asset. It covers six systems from Ayurveda to Sowa-Rigpa, and its services economy was worth US$36.92 bn in FY2024-25 [1]. India has built a solid set of institutions for Ayush. However, the scientific evidence and the regulation needed to make it credible are still behind that ambition.

Efforts to mainstream Ayush at home

• A separate Ministry of AYUSH (2014) was created. The National AYUSH Mission, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme notified in 2014, expands Ayush hospitals and dispensaries and improves drug quality control [2].
• The NCISM Act, 2020 replaced the IMCC Act, 1970. It set up a commission to regulate education and practice [3].
• The sector supports 1.76 million livelihoods, and women make up 43% of its workforce [1]. This gives Ayush a strong jobs-and-inclusion argument.

Efforts to globalise Ayush

• The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre was set up at Jamnagar in 2022, backed by USD 250 million from India [4]. It places India at the centre of global standard-setting.
• Medical Value Travel earned US$1.77 bn. Foreign patients are about 5% of patients but bring in 15–25% of hospital revenue [1].

Gaps that limit the soft-power payoff

• Weak evidence base: WHO's Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 says integration must rest on scientific evidence and safety regulation [7].
• Limited recognition abroad: only 78 countries regulated traditional-medicine practitioners, and only 45 covered it under insurance [6]. This limits where Ayush professionals can work and where patients can claim costs.
• Poor data: the Parliamentary Standing Committee (2024) asked for standardised data collection and research training under the Mission [5].
• Informality: over 1 million jobs are in standalone clinics. Wellness, the fastest-growing segment (21.29% CAGR), has little practitioner-level regulation [1][3].

Overall, India has turned Ayush from cultural heritage into an institutional and diplomatic project. The framework is strong, but its credibility is still partly unproven. Three steps would help: using GCTM to lead clinical research, certifying wellness workers, and signing mutual-recognition agreements with other countries. These could turn the projected US$216–318 bn economy of 2047 [1] into soft power that others trust, while advancing SDG 3 on universal health coverage.