There was a time when India spoke the language of strategic autonomy with a certain confidence. One did not have to agree with every foreign policy decision taken in New Delhi to at least recognise that the country attempted to project the image of an independent civilisational state with interests of its own, compulsions of its own and, occasionally, the courage to say no to great powers.

That India now appears to have quietly checked itself into the American strategic ecosystem with the enthusiasm of an eager probationary intern. Marco Rubio's visit only reinforced the impression.

One watched the spectacle unfold and could not help but wonder whether the Ministry of External Affairs still exists as an institution with a mind of its own, or has now been reduced to ceremonial choreography while Washington conducts the actual briefing. There was a visible awkwardness to the entire exercise.

Also Read: India's invincible narrative suffers wardrobe malfunction

India, which speaks endlessly of becoming a Vishwaguru and a leading pole in a multipolar world, looked strangely diminished in the presence of an American administration whose own foreign policy resembles an intoxicated roulette wheel.

The tragedy is not alignment. Nations align all the time. The tragedy is the desperate attempt to market dependency as strategic genius. India today cannot even freely procure oil from suppliers willing to sell it at favourable rates without nervously glancing toward Washington for approval like a schoolboy seeking permission to leave the classroom.

Iran offers energy, Russia offers energy, and India desperately needs energy. In a rational world, that would conclude the matter. Instead, New Delhi behaves as though American displeasure is a force of nature rather than a negotiable diplomatic variable. One is repeatedly told that this is sophisticated statecraft and that India is balancing interests. That this is pragmatic realism.

Very well then. Let us examine this realism. Has India secured formal alliance........

© Mathrubhumi English