Page 20 - The Indian EYE 010226

JANUARY 02, 2026
OPINION The Indian Eye 20

India’s Worldview in 2025: Power, Balance

and the Primacy of National Interest

In 2025, India’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi projected confidence, autonomy and reach,

as New Delhi engaged all major powers while placing its national interest firmly at the center of diplomacy

sure on market access and economic
policy. Yet New Delhi resisted both
escalation and capitulation. While de-
fending its domestic industries against
punitive tariffs, India kept channels
open for negotiation, signaling its
readiness for a balanced trade frame-
work that respected mutual interests.
This steady approach prevented the
relationship from becoming adversar-
SHOBHAN SAXENA ial, even amid friction.
Importantly, India’s engage-
he year 2025 marked a phase ment with the US in 2025 reaffirmed
of consolidation for Indian for- a mature partnership rather than a
Teign policy. Having emerged dependent alliance. Defense cooper-
from a domestic election cycle, New ation, technology collaboration and
Delhi returned to the global stage people-to-people ties continued, but
with renewed diplomatic energy, led New Delhi made it clear that strategic
personally by Prime Minister Naren- convergence did not imply automatic
dra Modi. The thrust was clear: India policy alignment. This ability to dis-
would engage with the entire world, agree without disengaging reflected a
resist alignment traps, and pursue Prime Minister Narendra Modi with South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa (left) and Brazil new confidence in India’s diplomatic
partnerships that advanced its eco- President Lula da Silva during the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) meeting on posture.
nomic, strategic and geopolitical in- the sidelines of the G20 Summit, in Johannesburg (@narendramodi/ANI Photo) Beyond major power politics, In-
terests. In an era of global uncertainty, dia also invested in its image as a part-
India chose balance over binaries and being a genuinely global actor rather ing global governance from within ner of choice for the Global South.
autonomy over dependence. than a regional power with selective rather than dismantling existing sys- Development cooperation, capacity
At the heart of this approach was partnerships. tems — a position that resonated with building, digital public infrastruc-
Modi’s continued personal leadership National interest, rather than many countries of the Global South. ture and cultural diplomacy featured
of foreign policy. His extensive trav- ideological alignment, remained the Crucially, India managed its rela- prominently in Modi’s engagements
el across Europe, West Asia, Africa, guiding principle. This was most evi- tionships with Russia and China with across Africa, the Caribbean and Lat-
the Americas and Asia reinforced a dent in India’s energy and economic calibrated realism. With Russia, the in America. These efforts reinforced
pattern established over the past de- diplomacy. Despite mounting exter- partnership remained resilient, an- India’s narrative as a country that
cade — that India’s diplomacy would nal pressure, India continued to pri- chored in defense cooperation, energy shares its growth experience rather
be leader-driven, visible and out- oritize affordable energy access for trade and shared interests in a multipo- than prescribes solutions.
come-oriented. From Paris and Wash- its population, maintaining strong lar world. While the relationship faced Taken together, India’s foreign
ington early in the year to BRICS cap- economic ties with Russia. Russian external scrutiny, India demonstrated policy achievements in 2025 lay not
itals, the Indian Ocean neighborhood crude remained a key stabilizer of that it could sustain strategic ties with- in dramatic breakthroughs but in
and West Asia toward its close, Modi India’s energy basket, insulating the out becoming politically beholden. sustained positioning. In a fragment-
sought to position India as a conse- domestic economy from global price Engagement with China was ed world marked by wars, economic
quential power that speaks to all sides. volatility. New Delhi made it clear more complex but equally deliberate. coercion and shifting alliances, India
A defining achievement of 2025 that decisions affecting its growth In 2025, New Delhi maintained dia- demonstrated that it could engage all
was India’s ability to sustain engage- trajectory would not be outsourced logue with Beijing despite unresolved sides, absorb pressure, and still retain
ment with virtually every major geo- to external capitals. border tensions. High-level meetings policy autonomy. Modi’s leadership
political bloc. Even as global politics India’s role within BRICS in and functional cooperation signaled ensured continuity, visibility and in-
hardened into competing camps, In- 2025 further reflected this strategic that India was willing to manage com- tent, even as outcomes were shaped
dia resisted exclusivity. It deepened autonomy. As the grouping evolved petition without allowing it to spiral by global constraints.
ties with Europe through trade and into a broader platform for emerging into conflict. The message was unmis- As India moves forward, the sig-
technology cooperation, expand- economies, India played a stabilizing takable: differences would not pre- nificance of 2025 may well lie in how
ed its footprint in Africa and Latin role, advocating multipolarity without clude dialogue, and deterrence would firmly it established itself as a power
America, reinforced its presence in confrontation. New Delhi pushed for coexist with diplomacy. that cannot be boxed in — a country
the Indo-Pacific, and sustained robust pragmatic cooperation in trade, de- Perhaps the most delicate balanc- that negotiates, hedges, resists and
engagement with West Asia, a region velopment finance, technology and ing act of the year was India’s handling cooperates, always with its national
central to India’s energy security and institutional reform, even as internal of the United States, particularly on interest as the final arbiter. In an un-
diaspora interests. This breadth of differences within BRICS persisted. trade and tariffs. Under a more trans- settled international order, that may be
outreach underscored India’s claim to India’s approach emphasized reform- actional Washington, India faced pres- India’s most enduring diplomatic asset.

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