China uses its hard and soft powers effectively: Tharoor

With India taking great pride in its soft power, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said this alone can only go so far, and the real art lies in combining both the powers hard and soft effectively, something that the "Chinese are doing better".

"Hard power without soft power is bullying, but then soft power alone at the end of the day is a weak force. However, if you can combine both the powers effectively then you have that self vigor, and this is where the Chinese are doing a better job at the moment," Tharoor said at the launch of 'My Driver Tulong and Other Tall Tales from a Post Pol Pot Contemporary Cambodia' here at India Habitat Centre.

Referring to Cambodia, Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries, Tharoor argued that India should think of offering something different to these nations, because if it is about pumping in resources then "Indian investment cannot quite compare to the large investible surplus of China".

"I have said this in Parliament also that the biggest challenge with Indian foreign policy is not Pakistan, it is the Ministry of Finance. We have our prime ministers and foreign ministers going abroad and making commitments and then the ministry of finance cheerfully refusing to fulfil them when the time comes.