India’s Heritage Diplomacy Database: Archaeology and Conservation Initiatives Since 2014

Key Takeaways 

• The database includes 20 heritage projects and 4 potential projects, spanning 12 countries across 3 continents 

• Funded by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 14 projects of the 20 are fully or partially managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), a division of India’s Ministry of Culture (MoC), with the rest managed by different implementing partners 

• Each site entry includes a brief description, information about the project’s budget and implementation, whether it is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, and a timeline of events with sources 

India’s Heritage Diplomacy Database: Archaeology and Conservation Initiatives since 2014 attempts to collate sites abroad where India has engaged in heritage diplomacy in the domain of archaeology and conservation in the last decade.  Although such projects have recently become a more prominent part of India’s foreign policy, no other public database exists with all such projects as of March 2025.  So far, there are 20 sites included in the database and 4 potential project sites.  Although the scale remains small given the heightened importance of India’s “civilisational and cultural ethos” and “civilisational linkages,” the demand for more initiatives is likely to grow.   

Relevance 

This database contributes to bridging the gap in scholarship on India’s heritage diplomacy.  Identifying patterns in the process of India’s heritage diplomacy can help develop useful policy recommendations for the future.  Specifically, further research could evaluate how timelines for sites in certain countries compare against bilateral relations, or how patterns across countries show how the program has evolved over time. The data may also assist policymakers in identifying where to allocate resources, whether technical or financial, to increase India’s heritage diplomacy capacity for the future. This database can help understand one way by which India projects its influence and interests abroad as a civilisational power. 

The database is meant as a starting point for more detailed analyses from a variety of potential angles.    

Objectives 

1. Develop a unique database mapping India’s archaeology and conservation projects abroad since 2014. 
2. Present longitudinal data for each project along with other site-specific information such as a description, information about budget and implementation, and whether the site is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. 
3. Pave the way for further detail-oriented research about India’s heritage diplomacy using this database.

Methodology 

Entries in this database include site-specific archaeology and conservation initiatives abroad which are funded by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and have been engaged with since 2014.  First, most projects were selected from the annual reports of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Culture (MoC) based on keyword searches.  A few others—Bala Hissar citadel in Afghanistan, Prambanan and Borobudur temple complexes in Indonesia, and Wat Pakea temple in Lao PDR—were added based on mentions in other official documents or speech. 

Second, mentions in annual reports became the frameworks for timelines supplemented with other MEA and MoC sources and online reporting.  Annual report sources in the timelines follow a separate format and include year and page number, i.e., “MEA 2023-2024, 10.”  Timelines focus on the role and actions of the Government of India and its implementing partners and are not exhaustive histories of each site or of other countries’ conservation projects.   

Third, descriptions for each entry were added with India’s role and the site’s broad significance in mind.  Budget, implementation, and whether sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List were added as well.  In the case of conflicting information, timelines defer to official sources and then local reporting. 

The data should not be considered exhaustive in view of a few limitations.  Apart from a few cases, there is a strong bias in the evidence toward English-language sources.  There is also a reliance on information available online with minimal input from the involved organizations themselves.  Additionally, there is an inconsistency of publicly available information among online sources.  As a result, whereas External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar noted in 2021 that India had completed 60 conservation projects in 21 countries, and had 52 ongoing or planned projects in 12 countries, this database may come short of reporting all projects since 2014. 

 For the purpose of this database, the author has standardized certain transliterated spellings if they appear differently between different linked texts.  For example, under the Earthquake-Damaged Cultural Heritage entry, some disparate spellings were standardized as “Buddha,” “Mahavihar,” “Ghyang,” and “Chholing.” 

Initiatives List 

Data Sources and Updates: The data used in this database is sourced from publicly available information including government reports, press releases, media reports and other secondary sources. The data collected is up to March 2025. 

Disclaimer: Maps, created using mapchart.net, are for illustrative purposes and do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of CSEP concerning the legal status of any country or territory or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. 

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank Riya Sinha and Constantino Xavier for their review and the rest of the Foreign Policy & Security team at CSEP for their continued support.  He would also like to thank the Communications team for their contributions, especially Ayesha Manocha and Mukesh Rawat.