India’s Emerging Geopolitics

With China’s phenomenal rise and India’s growing global influence, Asia has become the center of great power politics in the present century. India has been building stronger strategic ties with a wide range of countries including the United States and finds itself at the heart of the Indo-Pacific strategy that seeks to counter China. Discarding its traditional non-aligned movement rhetoric, India has begun to pursue a realist foreign policy based on national interests, though it still participates in various non-Western formats that include both Russia and China. As the Himalayan neighbors compete for global power and influence, the evolving conflict in the bilateral and multilateral dynamics between India and China has become an evident feature of the increasingly complex world of Asian geopolitics. India’s non-judgmental attitude toward the Russian aggression against Ukraine is primarily directed at mitigating India’s insecurities by preventing Russia from developing stronger ties with China. India’s continuing emphasis on strategic autonomy and championing of the Global South is also aimed at achieving great power status between the conflicting interests of the United States, China, and Russia. The chapter argues that the world is in the midst of a momentous geopolitical repositioning, and India’s aim is to become a part of the emerging multipolar global order.