India’s great-power delusions

The article reveals India’s ambition to rise as a global power while avoiding the burdens of alliances, behaving like a trapeze artist walking a tightrope between multipolarity and strategic autonomy. It dissects how India wishes to call the shots on the world stage without signing up for the duties that come with it. Despite its charm offensive and improved GDP numbers, India’s dreams of overtaking China or emerging as a lone Asian giant seem more smoke than fire. The irony is unmistakable: while India tiptoes around the US, dodges military pacts, and courts both the West and its rivals, it ends up painting itself into a diplomatic corner.

Yet what truly hits home is the ideological drift within India itself. The rise of Hindutva, marginalisation of minorities, and growing illiberalism act like termites hollowing out India’s once-prized democratic foundations. The country’s inability to shoulder real military or economic leadership in Asia, its discomfort with aligning too closely with the US, and its weakening internal cohesion all dim the light of its so-called ‘Shining India’ narrative. For all the talk of strategic realism and playing both ends against the middle, India appears stuck between post-colonial nostalgia and modern-day geopolitical ambition. The article makes a compelling case that India’s dreams of grandeur, without deep reform and commitment, are castles built on sand.

Overview:

This article critically analyzes India’s ambition to emerge as a great power and the contradictions embedded in that pursuit. It draws from Ashley J. Tellis’s observations and builds a case around India’s reluctance to form rigid alliances, its preference for multipolarity, and its ideological shift away from secularism. It argues that India’s strategic autonomy, ideological backsliding, moderate economic growth, and regional entanglements all undermine its global aspirations.

NOTES:

The article examines India’s aspirations for great-power status. It exposes the stark contradictions between its ambitions and its internal realities. It argues that while India seeks global influence through diplomatic manoeuvring, space missions, and hosting high-profile events like the G20, it simultaneously grapples with deep-rooted poverty, social inequality and a fragile democratic structure. The author emphasizes how the Hindutva-driven leadership has damaged India’s secular and democratic image, both domestically and internationally, by promoting intolerance and repressing minorities. Furthermore, the article notes that India’s regional policies are increasingly hegemonic, marked by strained relations with neighbours and an aggressive posture toward Pakistan and China. Its attempts to portray itself as a counterweight to China are undermined by economic disparity, military limitations, and internal instability. The article ultimately questions the sustainability of India’s global ambitions, arguing that soft power optics cannot mask hard power weaknesses and governance failures.

Relevant CSS subjects and syllabus topics:

• International Relations: Multipolarity, strategic autonomy, alliance systems
• Current Affairs: Indo-US relations, rise of China, South Asian geopolitics
• Pakistan Affairs: India’s regional behavior, ideological transformation in India
• Political Science (Optional): Illiberalism, democracy vs majoritarianism

Notes for beginners:

India wants to be seen as a global power like China or the United States, but it doesn’t want to commit to global military alliances or fixed partnerships. Instead, it prefers to stay neutral and friendly with both powerful countries like the US and rivals like Russia and Iran. This approach is called ‘strategic autonomy’ and reflects India’s belief in a multipolar world, where power is shared among many countries. However, India’s slow economic growth, unresolved regional tensions with China and Pakistan, and its internal religious and political divides are creating roadblocks. For example, while India claims to be the world’s largest democracy, its treatment of Muslims and Christians has raised red flags globally. This contradiction weakens its international image and ability to lead.

Facts and figures:

• India’s GDP grew 3.5 percent annually from 1950 to 1980
• GDP rose to 5.5 percent in the 1990s and has averaged 6.5 percent since
• To match China by mid-century, India would need 8 percent annual growth while China slows to 2 percent, a highly unlikely scenario
• India is home to 200 million Muslims and 30 million Christians, many of whom face increasing discrimination
• India avoids military alliances like NATO and prefers forums like BRICS and SCO

To sum up, this article is a striking dissection of India’s great-power ambitions through a realist lens. It masterfully highlights how India’s desire to rise on its own terms while noble in theory is weighed down by internal contradictions and strategic hesitations. The article forces readers to ask whether India truly wants to lead or simply appear like it is doing so. It shows that without consistency in values, a bold foreign policy, and economic dynamism, the dream of becoming a global giant will remain just a dream.