How Bhutan and Singapore Practice Buddhist Diplomacy
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- China and India have both deployed Buddhism as a foreign policy instrument: China sponsors international Buddhist forums, restores sacred sites, and weaves Buddhist heritage into its Belt and Road Initiative, while India expands pilgrimage circuits and lends sacred relics abroad.
- Bhutan, the world's only Vajrayana Buddhist kingdom, grounds its diplomacy in Buddhist values shaped by Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck's Gross National Happiness philosophy, navigating between India and China — the latter with which Bhutan still has no formal diplomatic relations.
- King Vajiralongkorn made a historic state visit to Bhutan in April 2025, part of high-level royal exchanges that also included King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck's December 2025 honorary doctorate from Chulalongkorn University and his June 2026 attendance at Princess Bajrakitiyabha's funeral rites.
- The Gelephu Mindfulness City project extends Bhutan's Buddhist diplomacy into the economic realm, branding mindfulness, sustainability, and well-being to attract global investment — exposing a tension in which Buddhist caution against materialism is strategically mobilized for deeper integration into global capitalism.
- Singapore — a secular, multireligious republic with no official religion — practices Buddhist diplomacy as an intermediary rather than through religious identity, exemplified by the late Venerable Hong Choon, who earned the title of Supreme Chinese Monk from King Bhumibol Adulyadej and hosted Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn during her visit.
- Former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo, a Catholic, championed the revival of Nalanda University as part of an 'Asian Renaissance,' while the Asian Civilisations Museum prepares a Dunhuang exhibition with the Dunhuang Academy in China — illustrating how Buddhist heritage can function as a diplomatic connector across religious lines.
Why it matters: Three Bhutan-Thailand royal exchanges between April 2025 and June 2026 — Vajiralongkorn's state visit, a December 2025 Chulalongkorn honorary doctorate for Bhutan's king, and his June 2026 attendance at Princess Bajrakitiyabha's funeral rites — translate Buddhist symbolism into concrete diplomatic partnerships that give a small Himalayan kingdom leverage beyond its India-China squeeze, while Singapore's Dunhuang exhibition charts a parallel secular route.
