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NEW DELHI: As more states open up to tourists with a string of safeguards in place, the tourism ministry is lending a helping hand with its “Dekho Apna Desh” campaign and pitching India as the land of Buddha.
With an eye on China and Buddhist countries in the neighbourhood, tourism minister Prahlad Patel emphasised the need to bring more Buddhist tourists to India, asking tour operators last week why India receives only a fraction of them.
The development of Buddhist tourism, done with an eye on China, which has also invested heavily in infrastructure projects to cultivate Buddhist leaders, has been part of India’s bid to leverage its soft power in the neighbourhood.
Earlier this month, PM Narendra Modi had pitched for encouraging Buddhist tourism, emphasising the centrality of India to the Buddhist world and highlighting the need for better connectivity of India’s Buddhist sites. He had also said his government had approved the upgrade of Kushinagar