Why India’s Strategic Autonomy Matters For Europe In An Unpredictable World – OpEd |
India in 2025 does not seek to lead the international system, but to manage it through balance. Its choice of strategic autonomy in a world of intensifying great-power competition is not merely a contemporary diplomatic tactic, but one rooted in deeper historical experience. During the period of the Mughal Empire, the Indian subcontinent functioned as a balancing pillar within a fragmented regional system, not through constant military expansion, but through administrative cohesion, economic strength, and controlled management of rivalries. Using different means, present-day New Delhi follows a similar logic: it avoids absolute alignments, invests in institutional continuity, and transforms economic resilience and multidimensional diplomacy into tools of geopolitical influence.
This posture carries particular significance for Europe. In 2025, the European Union faces a prolonged inflationary crisis that pressures the euro and exposes the structural weaknesses of European economic governance. Like India, the EU is a complex political construct, marked by internal imbalances and diverging national priorities. The Indian example demonstrates that the resilience of such formations does not stem from spasmodic reactions or national retrenchment, but from unity, predictability, and strategic coherence. In a world where the economy has become a field of geopolitical competition, Europe must decide whether it will function as a unified political and monetary power capable of absorbing the euro crisis, or allow internal fragmentation to undermine its position. In this context, the Indian example is not exotic; it is directly relevant.
India’s foreign policy in 2025 was shaped by a renewed commitment to “strategic autonomy,” engaging with all major powers without full alignment with any. This multi-alignment, long a defining feature of New Delhi’s diplomacy, was tested by new global realities. Rather than remaining passively non-aligned, India expanded its partnerships and took initiatives, seeking to transform strategic autonomy from a posture of detachment into tangible influence over global developments.
Within this framework, at the 17th BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in July 2025, the bloc’s leaders prioritized strengthening cooperation and cohesion within BRICS, focusing on the representation and interests of developing countries in the Global South. Discussions covered global governance, development financing, technology, and broader structural challenges, reflecting a shared........