Bharat’s Drishti for Vishv
– Dr Rakesh Arya
Introduction
The vishv is becoming increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The rule-based Vishv order established after 1945 is becoming less effective. Globalisation is turning into slowbalisation. Hyper-globalisation left many countries behind. The unipolar Vishv is now fragmenting into a multipolar Vishv. But there is no guarantee that a multipolar vishv will be stable. Global supply chains, which drive international trade, are fragmenting, causing socio-economic disruptions. Technology is overpowering human agency. Apart from the security and safety of the sea lanes of communication, the safety and security of undersea data cables is becoming a critical security issue. The wars are being fought in multiple domains simultaneously. Cyberspace, outer space and information space have emerged as critical domains of warfare.
As the Vishv evolves, Bharat is also transforming. Bharat is the most populous country in the Vishv, the fourth-largest economy, the fastest-growing economy, a leading military power, a leading technological force, a security provider of sorts, and possibly the country with the largest diaspora globally. Bharat has formulated a vision to become prosperous and great in 2047. Bharat’s global stature, driven by multidimensional engagements, an ambitious vision, and political will, has risen.
The increasing turbulence in the Vishv is both a cause for concern and an opportunity. This turbulence will reshape the Veshavik landscape. Bharat should take a role in reconfiguring the vishv. However, it cannot do so unless it possesses strong political, economic, technological, military capabilities, as well as social unity and coherence.
Bharat’s Vishv Drishti is conditioned by its self-image as the oldest civilisation in the Vishv, the largest democracy, a pluralistic society and an inclusive vision based on global brotherhood, Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam. The rise of Bharat as a global economy has bolstered its self-confidence to play a positive role in shaping the Vishv. At the same time, there is a realisation that the geopolitical and geo-economic challenges are formidable, which need to be tackled if Bharat has to maintain its upward trajectory. Bharat has to build its capability and capacity to deal with an increasingly turbulent Vishv.
The Crises that Shaped Bharat
In the last ten years, Bharat has dealt with several crises, which reveal how Bharat views the Vishv and how it is dealing with the current turbulence.
The COVID-19 (2020-22) pandemic was the first big global crisis that tested Bharat’s strength and resilience as a nation. It had several international dimensions. Although Bharat suffered almost half a million deaths, it emerged from the crisis wiser and stronger. Bharat was able to not only make its vaccines and kits, but also share them with other countries free of cost under the Vaccine Maitri programme. It launched a massive, successful airlift programme to bring home its stranded citizens. It refurbished its image as a first responder. It was during this period that Prime Minister Modi promoted the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam, Vishwamitra and the champion of the Global South and Aatmanirbharta. This idea became prominent in Bharat’s foreign policy in the subsequent years. The experience of using technology in vaccine production, vaccination of 1.3 billion people through the Cowin application, helped Bharat to build the digital stack, which later on became a pillar of Bharat’s technological cooperation. Bharat also learnt many lessons to build resilience and deal with global crises in the future.
The next big crisis to hit Bhartiya foreign policy was the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Bharat’s close, privileged strategic partner, Russia, attacked Ukraine and took over Russian-speaking territory. The war is still going on. Ukraine is also Bharat’s close friend that helped Bharat to evacuate thousands of students who were caught in the conflict. Russia came under punitive Western sanctions. The West, which had been building specific ties with Bharat for several years, expected Bharat to condemn Russia. Bharat refused to do so. It went ahead and bought oil from Russia at concessional prices despite Western sanctions. Today, Russia is Bharat’s largest supplier of oil. It also abstained on several Western-sponsored UN resolutions condemning Russia. At the same time, Prime Minister Modi maintained contacts with the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, telling them that this should not be an ‘era of wars’ and that conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. Bharat had a difficult time navigating the Russia-Ukraine turbulence. It could not afford to alienate either the West or Russia and yet safeguard its national interest. It succeeded in exercising its policy options within the framework of strategic autonomy. Modi’s formula, ‘not an era of wars’, was exercised during the G20 summit in 2023, which helped save the summit from a collapse.
The third big moment came when Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 and took hundreds of Israeli hostages. Bharat condemned the terror attack by Hamas and stood with Israel. Israel responded to Hamas’s terror with unprecedented ferocity and turned Gaza into rubble, attracting international criticism for overreaction and even ‘genocide’. Israel took the war to Hezbollah, Hamas and eventually to Iran in 2025. It incapacitated the Iranian proxies, severely damaged Iranian nuclear facilities, wiped out Iran’s top nuclear scientists, the military leadership and dragged the US into a direct war with Iran. This was unprecedented.
The Middle East remains in ferment. Bharat had to deal with the changing dynamics of the Middle East. Over the years, Bharat has transformed its relationship in the Middle East. It has developed a close relationship with Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States, joining I2U2 and IMEC, as well as Iran, where it operates the Chahbahar port and participates in the INSTC (International North-South Trade Corridor). Bharat has a tough challenge navigating the current upheaval and uncertainties in the Middle East. It has, by and large, stood with Israel but managed to keep its relations with Iran going. Its navy has also played an important role in providing security to the merchant ships navigating through the turbulent waters in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. However, there have been criticisms of Bharat’s failure to explicitly support the Palestine case, call for a ceasefire in Gaza and condemn Israel for its attack on the civilian population. Bharat has continued to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza, but that has not convinced the Arabs of Bharat’s neutral stand. Going forward, Bharat will continue to face the challenge of balancing its policies in the Middle East and remain relevant.
The fourth big moment came when Bharat came forward to provide substantive help to pull Sri Lanka out of its deep economic crisis in 2022-23. It also focused India’s attention that the neighbourhood was becoming unstable and needed a new approach.
If Bharat has to become a prosperous and great nation, it will need to have a stable, peaceful, secure neighbourhood. That is why Bharat started with the Neighbourhood First policy. The series of crises in the neighbourhood has compelled Bharat to adopt a far more proactive approach in the neighbourhood. The Neighbourhood First Policy, adopted in 2014, has paid dividends but is proving to be insufficient to deal with the growing instability. Bharat’s USD 4 billion help to Sri Lanka at the time of its deep economic crisis bolstered Bharat’s regional image. It provided USD 8 billion to Bangladesh to forge connectivity and promote economic integration. But, the unexpected turn of events in Bangladesh, resulting in regime change, in which probably the US was involved, has caused a severe strain on Bharat-Bangladesh relations. Experience has shown that the change of government in a neighbouring country can cast a shadow of uncertainty on bilateral relations. This was the case in the Maldives when Mohamed Muizzu became the President and brought in a pronounced pro-China tilt in the country’s policies. Bharat has to work hard to restore the deteriorating relationship. Instability in the neighbourhood, for instance in Myanmar, has also affected bilateral ties.
Similar is the case in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Terrorism and radicalisation remain key concerns. Following the Pahalgam terror attack (22 April 2025) and Operation Sindoor (6-7 May 2025), Bharat has promulgated a new doctrine, treating a terror attack as an act of war. Bharat also called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff. Bharat-Pakistan tensions are likely to remain high on account of cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. As tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan rise, Bharat’s relations with the Taliban regime have warmed up.
China’s growing influence in the neighbourhood is a matter of deep concern. The recent development shows that there needs to be a rethink on how Bharat should deal with its neighbours. We need to find anchor points, which would anchor the neighbours with Bharat.
China-Bharat relations remain difficult and complex. The Galwan incident (2020) derailed the bilateral relations. At the same time, Bharat’s economy remains dependent upon imports from China. The growing power asymmetry between Bharat and China is a factor in Bharat-China relations.
One way to ride out the uncertainty is to enhance engagements with the vishv. This has been the dominant trend in Bharat’s foreign policy for the past several years. Bharat’s engagement with great powers and also with countries in Africa, Eurasia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia has increased manifold. Bharat’s foreign engagement has been enriched by defence and security cooperation, technological cooperation, focus on food, energy and security, building development partnership and addressing issues of skill and capacity building. Bharat has also used the market as an instrument for attracting investment. It has been realised that economic cooperation is critical for Bharat’s growth. Shedding its inhibitions, Bharat has sped up the signing of Free Trade Agreements. Cultural relations and soft power have also gained due prominence in Bharat’s foreign policy, thereby increasing the cross-section of diplomatic engagement. Such engagements help in spreading the risk to many geographies and reducing the dependence on a single geography.
Multilateralism, as exemplified by the UN and its agencies, has come under a cloud in recent years. The effectiveness of the UNSC in ensuring peace and security has reduced. Instead, the importance of regional organisations and blocs has amplified. Responding to new trends, Bharat became active in several regional and thematic groupings. It joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and played a role in giving a new shape to the BRICS Plus. It also became an active participant in the QUAD, which is seen suspiciously by China as a grouping to counter Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. However, the usefulness of regional organisations is limited. India also took the lead in floating new organisations like to International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
Bharat has also realised that to be able to exercise strategic autonomy in an interconnected and interdependent multipolar vishv, it is necessary to build comprehensive national strengths in military, economic, technological and social spheres. Bharat’s Atmanirbhar programme, Make in India programme in defence, numerous PLI schemes for boosting manufacturing and various technology missions like AI, Quantum Technology, Semiconductor chips, etc, are designed to achieve that. Technology self-reliance will be critical for Bharat’s ability to exercise strategic autonomy. In this regard, access to critical minerals and rare earths, and semiconductors will be important. Bharat will also need to focus on enhancing manufacturing capability and increasing its share in global merchandise trade. This will give it an additional advantage in international relations.
Bharat is approaching global shifts with cautious optimism and a degree of optimism. Bharat has to take advantage of the new opportunities and prepare itself for meeting the challenges. The journey ahead will not be easy. At the same time, we have to realise that the global changes offer us opportunities for moving ahead and participating in the shaping of a new vishv order.
