The 2024 Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) by the World Economic Forum ranks India 39th out of 119 countries, up from 54th in 2021. As a major global tourist destination, India faces the critical task of preserving its natural and cultural heritage through sustainable tourism practices. Sustainability aims to minimize negative impacts while maximizing positive outcomes, ensuring tourism benefits future generations and the planet. While global research on sustainable tourism has flourished since the 1990s, India’s contribution has been relatively limited. In 2023, the Indian Ministry of Tourism launched the “Travel for LiFE” programme under Mission LiFE, a collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, UNWTO, and UNEP. The primary objective of the paper is to conduct a bibliometric analysis to examine global trends and India's role in sustainable tourism research. Using software tools, the study visualizes and analyses scientific publications, citations, co-authorship networks, and key research topics. It identifies trends, influential research areas, and emerging gaps, such as the role of technology in sustainability and the effectiveness of tourism policies. The findings highlight collaborative networks between Indian and international researchers, the institutions driving research, and potential future research directions, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and equitable tourism industry. The paper also undertakes a secondary data analysis of domestic and foreign tourist inflow post COVID in India. Key findings reveal that India plays a growing role in shaping sustainable tourism research, particularly through its collaborative efforts with international researchers, while also highlighting critical gaps in areas such as the integration of technology and the assessment of tourism policy impacts.