A Year of Dissipating Promises for Indian Foreign Policy
Introduction
2025 began with robust rhetoric from New Delhi about consolidating India’s role as a responsible global actor, deepening strategic partnerships, and anchoring its diplomacy on principles of strategic autonomy, neighbourhood engagement, and economic diplomacy.
Yet, as the year unfolds, many of these promises appear to have lost momentum — yielding a foreign policy marked more by reactive crisis management than by proactive vision. This editorial examines how initial diplomatic promises have diluted amid global volatility and shifting alliances.
Key Promises Made at the Start of the Year
At the outset, Indian foreign policy articulated several broad promises:
- Leadership of the Global South through development diplomacy and agenda-setting
- Strategic autonomy amid intensifying US–China rivalry
- Stability in the neighbourhood, especially South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)
- Economic diplomacy to attract supply chains and investments
- Normative leadership in multilateral forums and global governance reforms
While these goals were not unrealistic, their realization demanded sustained diplomatic capital, economic leverage, and institutional follow-through.
1. Strategic Autonomy Under Strain
India’s declared pursuit of strategic autonomy was meant to ensure freedom to engage with all powers without entangling alliances. However:
- U.S.–India Relations Faced Major Turbulence:
Friction with the U.S. escalated sharply after Washington imposed punitive tariffs on Indian goods — reportedly as high as 50% on key export sectors — in response to India’s continued purchase of Russian oil and trade disputes. This chipped away at the promise of an unfettered strategic partnership with the world’s largest economy, impacting export competitiveness and diplomatic calibrations.
- Russia as a Balancing Act:
India maintained historically close ties with Russia, continuing defence cooperation and energy imports. While this underlined New Delhi’s multi-aligned approach, it also tested its balancing act as sanctions and U.S. pressures mounted — revealing the challenges in hedging between great powers without strategic cost.
Key Critique: The ideal of strategic autonomy faced practical constraints as transactional pressures from major powers shaped India’s choices.
2. Neighbourhood First — Promise vs. Reality
India’s Neighbourhood First doctrine sought political stability, improved connectivity, and economic cooperation in South Asia. Yet 2025 exposed fissures:
- India–Pakistan Crisis:
A devastating terror attack in Pahalgam sparked the most severe military confrontation in years between India and Pakistan, leading to air strikes (Operation Sindoor) and a temporary standoff. This spiralling crisis challenged the narrative of sustained regional stability and demonstrated limitations of diplomatic outreach in the face of entrenched hostility.
- Strained Bangladesh Ties:
Relations with Bangladesh soured over growing extremism targeting minorities and Dhaka’s increasing engagement with Pakistan and China. This eroded momentum in bilateral cooperation, weakening New Delhi’s regional strategy.
Key Critique: Persistent regional tensions highlighted the gap between Neighbourhood First rhetoric and on-ground geopolitical realities.
3. Global Partnerships and Multilateral Diplomacy
India has championed several global initiatives — from G20 leadership to South-South cooperation and multilateral forums — yet 2025 revealed mixed outcomes:
- Multilateral Leadership vs. Multipolar Tensions:
India’s vision of a representative Global South was evident during its earlier G20 presidency and advocacy on debt relief and sustainable development. However, a shifting global strategic environment — with ambiguous U.S. and Chinese strategy adaptations — complicated New Delhi’s ability to shape outcomes as a global norm-setter.
- BRICS and RIC Dynamics:
Expansion of forums like BRICS offered opportunities for diversified cooperation, but the lack of coherence among member interests has limited substantive progress on reformative global governance.
Key Critique: India’s role as a multilateral leader remained aspirational, with institutional promises diffused in the face of great power rivalries.
Economic Diplomacy: Bridging Promise and Practicality
New Delhi’s foreign policy proclaimed economic diplomacy as central to global engagement. Some gains were visible, but were offset by setbacks:
- Trade Diversification Efforts:
India successfully advanced Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with partners like New Zealand, UK, and Oman, aiming to offset losses from U.S. market turbulence and strengthen market access.
- Currency and Trade Pressures:
Despite trade diversification, the Indian rupee ended 2025 on the back foot — with its weakest annual performance in years — influenced partly by unresolved trade tensions and policy uncertainty over a U.S. trade deal.
Key Critique: While diversification showcased resilience, larger economic diplomacy goals were hampered by unresolved major partnerships.
Reengagement with China: Cautious Progress
2025 witnessed cautious gestures towards relieving India–China tensions — including resumption of religious pilgrimages, visa regimes, and direct flights — after lengthy border standoffs. The Week Yet, structural issues remain:
- Persistent Strategic Distance:
Despite easing certain frictions, core disputes like lingering troop deployments along the Line of Actual Control continue, tempering expectations of a full diplomatic breakthrough.
Key Critique: Incremental progress on people-to-people and bureaucratic channels did not translate into decisive resolution on strategic fronts.
Way Forward
- Recalibrate strategic autonomy with clearer policy benchmarks, avoiding overdependence on any single power.
- Reinvigorate neighbourhood diplomacy with tailored economic and cultural engagement to rebuild trust in South Asia.
- Deepen economic diplomacy through targeted trade negotiations with both developed and emerging markets.
- Sustain multilateral leadership by advocating consistent principles in global governance reforms.
- Prioritise conflict resolution mechanisms and confidence-building with neighbours to reduce volatility.
In essence, Indian foreign policy in 2025 taught that promises must be reinforced by strategic patience, principled engagement, and adaptive diplomacy to navigate a fragmented and transactional world.
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