Buddhist history is an ever-more-serious business. China and India, two giants maneuvering for control in South Asia, have identified Buddhism as an instrument of soft power. In an area where, for centuries, Buddhism all but disappeared, a range of global stakeholders are investing in infrastructure to accommodate throngs of future pilgrims. India’s prize attraction is Bodh Gaya, the site where, it is believed, the Buddha attained enlightenment.
Nepal, increasingly aligned with Beijing, jealously guards its claim to the Buddha’s birth and early life.
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