New Delhi’s carefully cultivated policy of balancing competing powers is facing unprecedented stress. The larger question is whether India’s current approach is adequate for a world where power politics is being rewritten in real time

Speaking on the anniversary of the nuclear tests conducted in defiance of US warnings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “India will not bow down to anyone”, heralding the successful execution of its strategic autonomy, though its evolution has seen more downs than ups, especially during the turbulent Trumpian era. Punitive tariffs and multiple sanctions, along with waivers on Russian military platforms, Russian oil, and Chabahar Port, have taken their toll. During the recent BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar criticised unilateral non-UN sanctions on India, calling them “unjustified”, even as Delhi awaited waivers on Chabahar and Russian oil. Later at the conference, he noted the unnecessary resort to unilateral coercive measures and sanctions, which are inconsistent with international law and the UN Charter. These measures “disproportionately affect developing countries”. This is perhaps the first time such comments have been made - akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Strategic autonomy has been bruised notwithstanding the slew of deals with the EU and France. The purchase of 36 Rafale fighters in 2016, subsequent contracts for 18 naval versions, and the rejection of US, Russian, European, and Swedish offers were seen as a combination of high technology and, more importantly, trust. Trump’s coercive tariffs and warnings over de-dollarisation in BRICS have made India compliant. But the narrative worsens. A US submarine sinking an Iranian naval ship, IRIS Dena, in the Indian Ocean after it returned from the Indian Fleet Review 2026 dented India’s image as a net security provider.

“Strategic” is perhaps the most overused........

© The Pioneer