India’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade. In navigating an increasingly complex global order — defined by the dual challenges posed by a confrontational second-term President Donald Trump and an expansionist Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-occupied China, India has fortified its role as a sovereign, assertive and strategically autonomous power.

Through bold reforms, global partnerships, and calibrated diplomacy, India continues to pursue its national interest through a model of multi-alignment, strategic hedging, and resilience — avoiding entanglements in ideological alliances while strengthening connectivity across the Global South, the Indo-Pacific, West Asia, Eurasia, and beyond.

India's Core Strengths Fortified Under Modi’s Successive Governments

1. Economic Clout

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reached $4.0 trillion as of 2025, surpassing Germany to become the fourth-largest economy globally. Economic growth has averaged 6.7% annually over the past five years, driven by structural reforms that include:

Introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Expansion of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)

Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes in electronics, automobiles, green energy, and defence

2. Defence and Strategic Capability

India is now the third-largest defence spender globally, with an annual budget exceeding $83 billion. Key developments include:

Operationalisation of India’s indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant

Scaling up the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft program

Emphasis on self-reliant defence production (Atmanirbhar Bharat): AI-based warfare, drones, artillery and cybersecurity systems

3. Technological and Space Prowess

India has pioneered state-backed public digital infrastructure embraced by other developing nations. Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) leads global cost-efficient spaceflight, with Chandrayaan-3’s success followed by deep-space and commercial launch activity as well as a collaborative NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). India’s 6G pilots and blockchain-based governance tools are leading standards in the Global South.

India’s Multi-Alignment Doctrine: Flexible Partnership Without Dependency

India’s foreign policy has evolved from Cold War-era non-alignment into modern multi-alignment — characterised by flexibility, issue-based coalitions, and sovereign autonomy. India now actively engages platforms like:

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) – with the United States, Japan, and Australia

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS+)

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Trade Agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and ASEAN, as African countries

India tailors its relationships without falling into rival strategic camps.

The Strategic India–Russia Partnership: Resilience Amid Sanctions

Despite growing Western pressures, India’s relationship with Russia remains foundational and deeply strategic.

Trade: Bilateral trade crossed $60 billion, led by energy, military hardware, rare earths, and fertilisers

Defence: S-400 air defence systems, Akula-class submarines, 5th-generation fighter cooperation

Energy Security: Over 35% of India's crude oil is now sourced from Russia, at discounted rates, via rupee-ruble arrangements

Technology & Space: Joint ventures in satellite communications, next-generation navigation and semiconductors

This partnership offers India insulation from both CCP-occupied China’s militarism and Western leverage via conditional trade or sanctions.

Trump’s 50% Tariffs: India’s Measured Yet Firm Counterstrategy

Recently, President Trump’s administration escalated trade pressure, raising tariffs on Indian goods to a total of 50%, targeting:

Pharmaceuticals

Auto components

Gems and Jewellery

Textiles and garments

Leather goods and processed foods

This may affect up to $45 billion worth of exports from India, yet India’s calculated diplomacy has ensured:

No retaliation through counter-tariffs, avoiding escalation

Continued engagement on platforms like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and MALABAR naval exercises

Reduced dependency on the U.S. market via aggressive FTAs and outreach to new partners

The economic hit has been contained to below 0.2% of GDP, thanks to proactive diversification efforts and resilient service exports resting on a huge and increasing domestic consumption base.

India Cannot Be Bent — Trump Must Recalibrate

While trade tensions remain real, Trump’s own strategic logic — centred on an “America First” desire to counter CCP-occupied China and perceived leftist coalitions — may eventually lead to a softening of posture toward India.

Why?

The U.S. exports over $25 billion worth of goods and services to India annually

U.S.-bound investments in India totalled over $100 billion, focused on pharma, energy, and defence

India plays an indispensable role in Indo-Pacific balancing, joint infrastructure, critical tech supply chains and maritime operations.

As Trump confronts the CCP–Leftist–Jihadi nexus in his geopolitical framing, India will increasingly be seen not as a rival—but as a foundational partner of a secure and democratic order.

Expanding the Strategic Web: Middle East, Global South & IMEC

West Asia & Corridor Diplomacy

India has built a trilateral innovation–security–technology framework with the UAE and Israel, supported by:

The India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)

Counter-BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) infrastructure in the Arabian Sea and Eastern Mediterranean

South–South Solidarity

India is the lead voice of the Global South via platforms like:

Voice of Global South Summits

African Union–India Technology and Agritech Corridors

South America–India Pharma and Digital Cooperation Zones

Handling CCP-Occupied China: Asymmetry With Resolve

India stands firm against the threat posed by CCP-occupied China using asymmetric balancing:

Borders and Deterrence

Over 60,000 troops deployed in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh

All-weather roads, tunnel projects, and UAVs deter cross-border PLA pressure

Maritime Coalitions

Base access and logistics agreements with Japan, Australia, France, and the Philippines

QUAD naval exercises (MALABAR) enforce freedom of navigation

Tech Decoupling

Over 300 Chinese Communist Party occupied China-linked apps banned

Major telecom infrastructure contracts stripped from CCP-occupied China's vendors

Estimated loss to CCP-occupied China's tech companies: $5 billion annually

India demonstrates that assertive resilience, not appeasement, is the key to managing Beijing.

Conclusion: Rising India in a Multipolar Global Order

India has emerged from a decade of geopolitical upheaval more confident, more connected, and significantly more autonomous. Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, India has:

Climbed to the 4th-largest global economy

Avoided entrapment in great-power rivalry

Built one of the world’s most diversified networks of strategic alliances

Whether pushed by Trump’s 50% tariffs or tested on the high Himalayas by CCP-occupied China, India has not bent.

Instead, it has demonstrated a self-assured foreign policy based on multi-alignment, economic nationalism, and strategic pragmatism.

As the world’s balance of power evolves, India stands poised to play a stabilising role — not as a dependent ally, but as a defining force in shaping a secure, multipolar, and democratic world order.