Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, shared a detailed explainer on India's ongoing efforts to restore ancient Hindu temples across Southeast Asia, highlighting projects spanning countries from Indonesia to Cambodia. The post, shared via the NaMo App, drew attention to a facet of Indian foreign policy that blends archaeological expertise with cultural diplomacy.

Context

The article CM Sarma amplified traces India's involvement in conserving Hindu and Hindu-Buddhist heritage sites across the Indian Ocean region and Southeast Asia. Countries such as Indonesia — home to the Prambanan temple complex — and Cambodia — site of the iconic Angkor heritage zone — have been among the recipients of Indian technical and conservation expertise. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), India's primary monument conservation agency, has deployed specialised teams under bilateral cultural agreements to assist in structural and stone conservation at these sites.

India's engagement with overseas heritage is not new, but it has gained fresh momentum under successive governments. The Look East Policy, launched in 1991, first formalised cultural cooperation with Southeast Asian nations as a diplomatic instrument. Its successor, the Act East Policy, announced in 2014, elevated heritage projects to a core pillar of outreach to ASEAN member states, placing them alongside economic connectivity and security dialogue.

Policy Backdrop

A key institutional vehicle for this work is Project Mausam, a Ministry of Culture initiative launched in 2014 to map and conserve maritime cultural linkages — including temple sites — across the Indian Ocean world. The project draws on the historical reality that Indian civilizational influence, carried by trade and migration, shaped the religious and architectural landscape of much of Southeast Asia over more than a millennium.

These restoration efforts are also calibrated to serve India's broader strategic interests. By positioning itself as the custodian of shared Asian civilizational heritage, New Delhi reinforces people-to-people ties with ASEAN governments and populations that share Hindu-Buddhist cultural roots. The approach complements hard-power and economic instruments with a form of soft power that is difficult for rival actors to replicate.

Stakeholders and Impact

The direct beneficiaries of these restoration programmes include heritage agencies in host countries, local tourism sectors, and scholarly communities engaged in the study of ancient Asian civilisations. For Indonesia and Cambodia in particular, well-preserved temple complexes are significant drivers of inbound tourism revenue, meaning Indian technical assistance carries tangible economic value alongside its cultural symbolism.

Within India, such initiatives resonate with a domestic audience attuned to narratives of civilizational continuity and global cultural leadership. Senior political figures sharing content on these projects — as CM Sarma has done — amplify their visibility and signal cross-party support for cultural diplomacy as a foreign-policy tool.

What's Next

Analysts tracking India-ASEAN relations expect new ASI project announcements or memoranda of understanding to emerge at forthcoming India-ASEAN summits or during high-level bilateral visits to Phnom Penh and Jakarta. As India's diplomatic calendar with Southeast Asia remains active, heritage cooperation is likely to feature prominently alongside trade and connectivity discussions. The renewed attention to these programmes — driven in part by social media amplification from leaders like CM Sarma — suggests that cultural diplomacy will remain a visible and politically valued strand of India's foreign engagement.