In a world often fractured by identity, India stands as an enduring reminder that diversity, when embraced with confidence, can be a source of strength, not strife. The Indian republic, home to more than 1.4 billion people, speaks in over 19,000 dialects, practices every major religion, and celebrates thousands of festivals, yet functions under one Constitution that promises liberty, equality, and fraternity to all. This is not a political slogan but a lived reality, renewed every day in its streets, classrooms, and temples, mosques, churches, and gurdwaras.

India's secular ethos is not borrowed from modernity; it is woven into its civilizational DNA. Long before the world spoke of multiculturalism or coexistence, India lived it. From the Buddha's sermons at Sarnath to Emperor Ashoka's rock edicts, from Akbar's Din-i-Ilahi to Mahatma Gandhi's pluralism, India's inclusive spirit has endured through every age. Today, as societies grapple with polarization, India's example, like that of the United Arab Emirates, shows how faith, identity, and modern statehood can coexist in harmony.

To call India secular is to understate its depth. Secularism in the Indian sense is not the rejection of religion, but equal respect for all faiths, Sarva Dharma Sambhava. Unlike Western models that separate church and state, India's approach recognizes that faith is integral to identity, and thus seeks harmony rather than hierarchy.

This approach has ensured that India remains a home for every faith. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, and Parsis have all flourished on its soil. It was India that sheltered Jews fleeing Roman persecution and Zoroastrians escaping Iran. It was India that produced Buddhist monks who carried compassion across Asia and Sufi saints who preached love over orthodoxy.

In today's India, that tradition continues. The Prime Minister's visits to interfaith sites, from Gurudwaras to Sufi shrines, Buddhist monasteries to churches, reflect not political symbolism, but civilizational continuity. The celebration of Guru Nanak Jayanti at the Kartarpur border, Prime Minister Modi's Deepotsav celebrations in Ayodhya attended by leaders of multiple faiths, and the joint observance of Eid Milad-un-Nabi and Navratri in cities like Lucknow and Hyderabad illustrate how India's diversity continues to thrive as shared heritage.

Modern India's secular practice

India's inclusivity is most visible not in grand ceremonies but in everyday life. In Kerala, Muslim artisans craft idols of Hindu deities. In Punjab, gurdwaras run langars where people of every faith eat together. In Kashmir, the Rishi-Sufi tradition still echoes in shrines where Hindus and Muslims once prayed side by side. In Tamil Nadu, church choirs sing in Sanskrit, while Hindu temples employ Dalit priests under social reform initiatives.

Even in the digital age, Indian pluralism adapts creatively. Social media campaigns like #HarGharTiranga and #VasudhaivaKutumbakam are as much about unity as they are about civic pride. Film, literature, and sports continue to transcend lines of language and belief, from Shah Rukh Khan's universal stardom to the cricket team's collective identity, India's icons represent a shared nationhood that defies narrow labeling.

Recent initiatives underline this spirit institutionally. The Kashi-Tamil Sangamam and Saurashtra-Tamil Sangamam reconnect diverse linguistic communities; the Bharat Mandapam built for the G20 displays art from every Indian state; and the government's revival of interfaith dialogues at UNESCO and the UNHRC has reasserted India's voice as a moral and pluralist democracy. The new Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the adjacent Muslim cultural centers coexisting peacefully reflect the balance India continues to strive for, faith without fear, and belief without exclusion.

Shared values with the UAE: Faith in coexistence

In many ways, India's multicultural harmony finds resonance in the United Arab Emirates, another modern state that has successfully fused faith, progress, and inclusivity. Like India, the UAE has recognized that tolerance is not weakness but wisdom. Both nations are ancient civilizations modernizing on their own terms, proving that progress need not erase identity.

The UAE's Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, housing a mosque, church, and synagogue side by side, mirrors the inclusive vision that India has practiced for millennia. India's constitutionally enshrined secularism and the UAE's policy of tolerance are parallel expressions of the same truth: that diversity, managed with respect and equality, enriches a nation's soul.

It is no coincidence that more than 3.5 million Indians live in the UAE, contributing to its growth while finding in it a reflection of India's own spirit, open, dynamic, and respectful of all faiths. The friendship between the two countries, cemented by shared values rather than just shared interests, has made India-UAE relations a model of cultural diplomacy rooted in pluralism.

Inclusivity as strength in a changing world

As nations worldwide confront social divisions and culture wars, India's inclusive experiment offers an alternative template for coexistence. Its success lies not in the absence of differences, but in its ability to manage them democratically and compassionately.

Whether through the G20's theme of“One Earth, One Family, One Future”, India's climate diplomacy anchored in ethical responsibility, or its leadership in disaster relief for nations irrespective of religion or alliance, New Delhi is translating its internal pluralism into global diplomacy. The world sees India not merely as a democracy of scale, but as a democracy of spirit.

At home, the Swachh Bharat and Digital India campaigns have united citizens beyond caste or creed around common purpose, while Jan Dhan Yojana and Ayushman Bharat have uplifted millions irrespective of identity. These are not just welfare schemes, they are modern expressions of equality, echoing the same inclusivity that underpins India's moral universe.

The way forward

India's diversity is not a challenge to be managed; it is its greatest strength to be celebrated. To preserve it requires constant renewal, in education that teaches empathy, in media that amplifies understanding, and in leadership that continues to see unity in difference. The story of India is not one of uniformity, but of harmony in multiplicity.

As the UAE and India show, the future belongs to nations that embrace inclusion as a principle, not as a policy. When tolerance is institutionalized, it becomes identity.

In both countries, temples, mosques, churches, and synagogues stand not as monuments of separation, but as symbols of shared humanity. In India, the call of the Azaan mingles with the temple bell and the church choir, not as competing sounds, but as a collective prayer for peace.

That, ultimately, is India's greatest message to the world: that true strength lies not in sameness, but in the symphony of differences harmonized by respect. A lesson as ancient as the Vedas, and as modern as the republic itself.

Rishi Suri is a commentator on political and current affairs. He has previously served as the media adviser to the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister.

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