As Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurls the national flag on India’s 80th Independence Day on the ramparts of the fort that Shahjahan built he would be acutely aware of the very difficult external environment that confronts the nation. The Iran war continues causing continuing dislocation in international energy supplies. This has impacted India directly because it had depended on both oil and gas supplies from the Gulf region. India has successfully made arrangements to ensure that there were no long term shortages of fuel or fertilizers but their costs have increased putting pressure on the economy. The Ukraine war has gone beyond four years now and while its principal impact is being felt in Europe it has added tension to the relations of the Great Powers and this in turn affects the international community as well. While these major conflicts are playing out the principal global contention of the present age is between China which has risen to great power status and the United States which remains the most powerful country in the world. However, the gap between them is narrowing. These factors require that India’s foreign policy and security managers handle India’s external relations with subtlety and dexterity to ensure that national interests are safeguarded and promoted. 

What makes the situation more complex is that these contestations are occurring at a........

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