Analysts debate India's place amid shifting global power dynamics

The post-Cold War international order was constructed on the premise of American unipolarity, the primacy of multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, the IMF, and the World Bank, and the gradual diffusion of liberal democratic norms. That architecture is now under sustained stress. The rise of China as a peer competitor, the relative retreat of American multilateral engagement, and the emergence of assertive regional powers have collectively produced what scholars describe as a multipolar or polycentric world order — one in which no single power can unilaterally dictate outcomes.

India's foreign policy has historically been anchored in strategic autonomy — the refusal to be permanently aligned with any single power bloc. Rooted in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of the Cold War era, this posture has evolved into a more active multi-alignment strategy: engaging the United States through the Quad, Russia through defence and energy ties, China through trade and multilateral forums such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and the Global South through platforms like the G20 presidency. The NCERT Political Science curriculum notes that since the post-1977 period, all Indian governments — regardless of party — have pursued a foreign policy dictated by national interest rather than ideological alignment, correcting earlier pro-Soviet tilts while simultaneously deepening ties with the United States and maintaining Russia as a strategic partner.

The current moment is distinctive because multiple structural shocks — the Iran conflict, the US-China rivalry, the global shift toward right-wing nationalism, and the erosion of multilateral consensus — are occurring simultaneously, compressing the strategic space available to middle powers like India.