• Kshitisman Mahanta
• Madhumati Deshpande

Sports events have been an integral part of efforts in strengthening relations between states since ancient days. Sports diplomacy uses the universal passion for sports as a way to transcend linguistic and socio-cultural differences and brings people together. Sporting events and exchanges increase dialogue and cultural understanding between the people around the globe. Recently we see a number of Mega sports events that have been used by different countries to improve their images in the world community. This paper seeks to analyse two important questions which are very relevant in the current scenario. The first question is that, can international sport be used as an instrument of diplomacy for the states and the second one being the importance of non-state actors in international sports diplomacy. The paper uses India as a case study as India is emerging as a major sporting country in the Asian region. In the international scenario, the sport continues to grow in terms of number of sports, verities of events, number of participating states, number of participants, fans and spectators, and very importantly corporate sponsorship that brings in the dimension of international economics. In last decade India joined the elite group of nations to host large international sporting events apart from Asian games, which the nation has been hosting. 21st century witnessed hockey world cup, cricket world cup, U17 FIFA world cup, Moto GP championship, formula one and most importantly 2010 commonwealth games which brought India into the limelight. In this case study, this paper will try to highlight and analyse if India has used these international sporting events as an instrument of its soft power diplomacy and the result of the same. It will also examine the role the non-state actors have played in the same.

Diplomacy, International Relation, Sports, Olympics, Cricket, India-Pakistan Relation.

"Sports Diplomacy and International relation: A case study of India", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no.530-535, March-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1903676.pdf

"Sports Diplomacy and International relation: A case study of India", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no. pp530-535, March-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1903676.pdf