China has positioned itself as a center of Mahayana Buddhist civilization, sponsoring international Buddhist forums, restoring sacred sites, and weaving Buddhist heritage into its Belt and Road Initiative. India, the birthplace of Buddhism, has promoted its own Buddhist heritage by expanding pilgrimage circuits and lending sacred relics abroad. Buddhist diplomacy is being practiced not only by Asia’s largest powers, but also by two of its smallest states: Bhutan and Singapore. The cases of Bhutan and Singapore demonstrate how small states can pursue Buddhist diplomacy under different conditions. As China and India continue to compete for influence across Asia, Bhutan and Singapore reveal how Buddhist diplomacy can operate in strikingly different small-state settings.