India’s foreign policy has once again come under critical American scrutiny with Ashley Tellis’ article, “India’s Great Power Delusions,” published recently in the Foreign Affairs journal. Tellis, a leading American strategic analyst on South Asia, not only reflects the American mindset but also directly questions India’s vision of self-reliance and a multipolar world. He contends that India lacks the capacity to become a true global power and should secure its future under America’s shadow.
Thus Tellis writes: “India’s ambitions far exceed its capabilities, and its leaders have not yet come to terms with the limits of their country’s power. India’s quest for strategic autonomy is, in effect, a search for an international order that does not exist and is unlikely ever to materialize.” But can 21st-century India so easily accept the dominance theory of any hegemonic power? This question becomes even more pertinent post India’s bold military action “Operation Sindoor” against jihadi Pakistan which emphatically underscored its strategic autonomy ~ while the same United States, which calls India a strategic partner, renews its courtship with the army chief of an unstable, radicalized Pakistan.
For the transaction-loving Trump, it may be a smart move, but such an act has only reaffirmed the belief of the US being an unreliable partner. Tellis’ article gives intellectual cover fire to American hegemonic thinking, seeking to prove that India’s multipolar worldview, as repeatedly articulated by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, is impractical. The article repeatedly emphasizes India’s social, economic, and technological challenges as barriers to its global ambitions. However, this criticism would have been more balanced had Tellis also acknowledged the significant role played by Indian Americans in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign.
Similarly, America’s own challenges ~ its devastating gun culture, crumbling public healthcare system, over $34 trillion in federal debt, unemployment, and growing discontent over racial and immigration policies among other ~ raise questions about its credentials as an ideal global leader. Its abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan, instability created in Iraq and Libya through irrational regime change, interference in Ukraine, and now the unilateral role in the Iran-Israel conflict; all point to the fact that America’s talk of a “rule-ba sed order” is often a mask for its own interests. In such times, Jaishankar’s insights in his book, “The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World,” become even more relevant.
He defines global relationships as “frenemies” ~ a blend of friend and enemy. Pragmatic Jaishankar believes that in today’s world, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. His concept of ‘frenemies’ best describes the simultaneous cooperation and competition among nations. In today’s global context, this is the reality ~ no country is a permanent friend or enemy. Does the present Indo-US relation also fit into this definition of “frenemies”? If so, India must recognize that this partnership is marked more by political opportunism than strategic equality.
Contrary to Tellis’ critique, one must also consider how India is emerging on the global stage. During its G20 presidency, India strongly voiced the concerns of developing nations. Through the “Vaccine Maitri” initiative, India supplied vaccines to over 100 countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. Innovations like Digital Public Infrastructure and UPI, now adopted by several countries, testify to India’s technological prowess. Can these achievements be ignored in assessing India’s capabilities? The world today is grappling with systemic crises emanating from religious fanaticism on the one hand to authoritarian regimes, economic greed, and the hegemonic drive for dominance on the other.
The clash of political and religious ideologies has created such confusion in international relations that distinguishing right from wrong has become increasingly difficult. Iran, due to its religious extremism and nurturing terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, finds itself isolated globally. Its obsession with erasing Israel from the map has only consolidated the Israel-US alliance further and neutralized rest of the world including the Muslim nations in its neighborhood tacitly. Whether it is the ongoing Iran-Israel war or the Ukraine crisis, hegemonic powers often fuel such conflicts for strategic interests rather than seeking peace. If the US stands with Israel today, will it allow Israel to declare a unilateral ceasefire?
Can Israel end the war without American approval? How secure is Israel’s own sovereignty in this partnership? Of late, Donald Trump’s transactional approach in international relations, where every international decision is based on immediate gain or loss ~ is becoming detrimental to global stability. It undermines trust, cooperation, and justice. When countries like the US overthrow democratic governments or support puppet regimes for their own interests, the “rule-based order” becomes a hollow slogan.
In contrast, India has always supported a system based on balance of power, not dominance. India’s approach is neither hegemonic nor reactionary; it is principled, balanced, and rooted in justice ~ making it the most suitable path for global stability and peace. For analysts like Tellis, it may be easy to portray India as merely an “incompetent ally,” but India’s vision, strategy, and global outlook are far broader and more long-term. The 21st century India neither wishes to be anyone’s shadow nor a partner that dances to another’s tune ~ it aspires to be the architect of a self-reliant, multipolar world order.
Tellis must appreciate that global stability is best secured not through hegemonic dominance or transactional alliances, but through a balanced, value driven multipolar order ~ where sovereign nations cooperate as equals, guided by justice and autonomy rather than opportunism or subordination. That’s what India aspires to.
(The writer is former professor at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, an author and columnist. He can be reached at bholey.mihir@gmail.com)