Description
The liberalisation of India’s economy in 1991 transformed not only its economic orientation but also its external identity. Moving from a state-led model to a market-driven framework, India began to use economic performance as a key element of its international image. This paper is guided by two questions: How has India been branding itself for greater exports and FDI? and What is India branding itself with, and why? The first question is explored through the scholarship of nation branding, particularly Simon Anholt’s National Brand Hexagon, which identifies exports and investment as crucial dimensions of a nation’s competitive identity. The second question draws on Susan Strange’s States and Markets (1988) to analyse how India navigates its structural power through the narratives of openness and competitiveness. The study proceeds from the assumption that while the term nation branding may be novel, the practice of states strategically shaping their international image (or identity) is not. Using policy analysis and semi-structured interviews with experts in investment, marketing, and policymaking, the paper examines initiatives such as Make in India, Invest India and Brand India as instruments that merge policy with image-making. It argues that since 1991, India’s national brand has evolved not merely as an outcome of liberalisation but as a strategic response to the shifting balance between states and markets in the neoliberal global order.
