• India’s foreign policy of multi-alignment permits the state to engage in pragmatic interactions with various poles of power while maintaining strategic autonomy.
• Unlike non-alignment, it does not mean neutrality toward all main power blocs; rather, it promotes selective cooperation based on issue-specific common ground.
• This multi-alignment approach in the Indo-Pacific region became important for India in the face of Washington’s ambiguous policies and Beijing’s increasing assertiveness.
• The fundamental impediment to India’s successful policy in the Indo-Pacific area has never been a lack of diplomatic attempts, but rather a failure to respond to those endeavours by action.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s six-day tour of Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand followed India’s cordial welcome from Japan’s prime minister. All of these official travels and bilateral talks take place within a setting. There is a significant geopolitical shift in the Indo-Pacific region as a result of changes in US foreign policy under the Trump administration, as he seeks to abandon the Indo-Pacific label and potentially recognize China as a major regional power alongside the US in the ‘G-2.’ At the same time, China’s muscular foreign policy in the region continues unabated. In this perspective, India’s efforts to strengthen relations with Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand are linked to ‘India’s foreign policy of multi-alignment and strategic autonomy for the Indo-Pacific region.’ This foreign policy multi-alignment helped India secure a strategic space in an unpredictable geopolitical environment.

Significance of the Indo-Pacific Region

The Indo-Pacific area has emerged as a geopolitical epicenter in the twenty-first century, owing to its substantial impact on the free flow of global trade, security dynamics, and normative contestation over regional organization. The Indo-Pacific region is a vast maritime space that extends from the east coast of Africa to the western shores of America. This region accounts for nearly 60% of global GDP, facilitates global energy transportation, and witnesses the flow of 90% of global trade. The Indo-Pacific area is not only important because of its geoeconomics significance, but it has also emerged as the focal point of geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. This region also drew geostrategic responses from middle powers such as India, Japan, and Australia. India, as a country seeking to establish a respected presence in the global political and commercial spheres, cannot afford to ignore the region.

India’s foreign policy transformation: from non-alignment to multi-alignment

India’s foreign policy has evolved over the last seven decades as a result of global political shifts. In the post-independence period, India embarked on a foreign policy of non-alignment, which was heavily affected by the trauma of the colonial past and a resolute commitment not to join any Cold War military bloc. India’s non-alignment foreign policy was tested in 1962 with a military clash with China and again in 1971 with a full-fledged war against Pakistan. In both situations, India was forced to seek assistance from the major powers. India remained strategically committed to non-alignment despite these two events. The end of the Cold War enabled India to pursue a more flexible, interest-based foreign policy. This was obvious in India’s Look East Policy, which aimed to strengthen relations and collaboration with Southeast Asian countries. Another significant shift occurred after 2014, when India adopted a more assertive foreign policy focused on securing India’s respectable position in global affairs.

This assertive foreign policy prompted New Delhi to pursue a multi-alignment policy, which assisted India in overcoming the Cold War era binaries of alignment and non-alignment. India’s foreign policy of multi-alignment differs from classical balancing in that the latter permits the state to align only with others to defeat the hegemon or allows the state to bandwagon with a strong power to counter another strong power. On the other hand, multi-alignment permits the state to engage in pragmatic interactions with various poles of power while maintaining strategic autonomy. This is obvious in India’s policy of multi-alignment, as it is a member of both the QUAD, which includes the United States and Japan, as well as the Shanghai Cooperation, led by China and Russia. Second, unlike non-alignment, it does not mean neutrality toward all main power blocs; rather, it promotes selective cooperation based on issue-specific common ground. For example, India collaborates with Japan on maritime security and the protection of sea lanes of communication and with Australia on the delivery of critical minerals. Third, this policy lessens India’s reliance on any single country and enables it to maximize its profits by participating in a variety of overlapping multilateral platforms such as BIMSTEC and IPOI.

Finally, the virtue of multi-alignment enables India to absorb shocks of uncertainty from global events while still affecting the regional order from a position of relative autonomy. This enables India to avoid strategic entrapment, particularly in light of the US-China competition and the US’s unpredictable foreign policy.

India’s Position in the Indo-Pacific Region

India’s foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific area differs significantly from that of the United States and China. Unlike Washington, India does not support the region’s hierarchical power structure. Similarly, it would prefer to maintain the rule-based regional order that Beijing has been working to abolish for a long time. India’s attitude on the Indo-Pacific area: India’s approach to the Indo-Pacific region focuses on enhancing the rules-based regional order through reforms that acknowledge its growing significance in Asia. India’s approach focuses on strengthening the rules-based regional order through reforms that reflect its rising importance in Asia. This places India in the category of ‘system-supporting reformist’ rather than a revisionist power. This provides India the ability to collaborate with status quo powers such as the United States and Japan. This perspective of India characterizes its ascent as a peaceful and positive development for the region’s middle powers. This fosters a positive image of India among them, and it serves as an option to China. India engages with them bilaterally under the Act East Policy and multilaterally through the ASEAN+Three Initiative.

Recently, India has taken a number of steps to strengthen its standing in the Indo-Pacific region. The SAGAR program focuses on improving maritime security and forming economic and infrastructure ties. The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative was established by the Indian prime minister in 2019 to put India’s Indo-Pacific vision into action. India is also heavily engaged in the region with its Act East Policy and the QUAD.

Conclusion

The Indian Prime Minister’s recent six-day tour of three nations reflects India’s multi-alignment policy in the region. Therefore, India cordially welcomed the Japanese prime minister to New Delhi. India was successful in reaching agreements with these countries on a wide range of issues, including A.I., maritime security, vital minerals, port development, trade liberalization, and cybersecurity. This multi-alignment approach in the Indo-Pacific region became important for India in the face of Washington’s ambiguous policies and Beijing’s increasing assertiveness. Other intermediate powers, including India, are in a similar position. India’s cooperation with other countries could be vital to regional security.

However, it is vital to note that the fundamental impediment to India’s successful policy in the Indo-Pacific area has never been a lack of diplomatic attempts, but rather a failure to respond to those endeavors by action. For example, India’s commerce with ASEAN increased from US $7 billion in 2000 to US $125 billion by 2025. When compared to China’s commerce with the regional union, which has reached $1 trillion by 2025. India requires a strategy to successfully implement all of these efforts. Otherwise, India’s multi-alignment policy would be useless or ineffective in achieving its regional objectives.

Dr Mohmmad Rizwan

Dr Mohammad Rizwan holds a PhD in political science from Jamia Millia Islamia. His doctoral research focuses on Pakistan’s relations with major global powers. Views expressed are the author’s own.