Diwali receptions at Whitehall and Capitol Hill are no longer ceremonial. They precede working groups on skilled migration, medical licensing reciprocity, and dual-degree partnerships — issues that matter to constituencies with high Indian-origin populations.

Soft power, though, is not monolithic. Generational splits over Kashmir, caste, and campus politics show up in the same donor lists that fund bipartisan friendship caucuses. Delhi reads these fractures carefully when scheduling diaspora outreach.