Chapter 8
India’s Strategic Ascent
Shyam Tekwani and Saumya Sampath
India’s strategic location gives it the potential to play a pivotal role, but potential is not action.
— Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister
and founder of Singapore
Introduction
“It is inevitable,” said India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949, “for India to play an important global role not because of any ambition of hers, but because of the force of circumstances, because of geography, because of history.”
More than seven decades later, India’s strategic ascent reflects both those enduring conditions and deliberate choices. Its rise is shaped by geography at the crossroads of critical sea lanes, by the scale of its population and market, and by its expanding military and diplomatic presence across the Indo-Pacific. But India’s growing stature is not simply the product of structural advantage—it is also the result of calibrated strategic behavior in a contested regional order.
India has transitioned from its Cold War-era posture of non-alignment to a 21st-century doctrine of strategic autonomy, which enables engagement with competing major powers without alignment to any single bloc. It maintains robust defense and technology ties with the United States, energy and arms dependencies with Russia, and significant commercial interdependence with China—even amid unresolved border tensions.
This chapter examines India’s Indo-Pacific strategy as a case study in strategic autonomy under competitive multipolarity. It traces India’s evolving approach to regional engagement, assesses the geopolitical constraints and opportunities it faces, and evaluates how New Delhi balances sovereignty, deterrence, and leadership in a fluid strategic environment. By analyzing India’s partnerships, defense posture, and regional initiatives, the chapter explores how India seeks to position itself—not as a subordinate in a bloc—but as a stabilizing power shaping the rules of engagement in a region increasingly defined by competition and complexity.
