"How can India navigate and accelerate its rise in this environment that is the single question... how can India leverage its partnerships... to accelerate its own capabilities at home." - Dhruva Jaishankar [00:02:48]
"The fact is for most political entities in history... they had to think strategically because it was a matter of existential survival. If you did not, you were being invaded... it was a matter of life and death." - Dhruva Jaishankar [00:05:52]
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"For all the talk of non-alignment, India was effectively aligned with the Soviet Union and so non-alignment became a little bit of a word for anti-Americanism essentially." - Dhruva Jaishankar [00:19:22]
"The times India has hurt itself is when it has closed doors, because that is against strategic autonomy... you close off options that actually hurt you in the long run." - Dhruva Jaishankar [00:48:45]
"The fact is China has essentially made the Indo-Pacific... the very fact that you have an active Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean... that has created the conditions of the Indo-Pacific." - Dhruva Jaishankar [00:53:10]
"I have not seen a good Indian book on India-Russia relations in 25 years... and there's not been a good book length study of that." - Dhruva Jaishankar [01:06:22]
Speakers & Credentials
Manas Kumar: Host of the Chanakya Fellowship Dialogues.
Dhruva Jaishankar: Executive Director of ORF America (established in 2020). Renowned foreign policy analyst with previous tenures at the Brookings Institution, the German Marshall Fund, and the Lowy Institute in Australia. Author of the book Vishastra (The Untold History of Indian Statecraft).
1. Executive Summary
India’s core strategic objective in the current era is "internal balancing," explicitly leveraging foreign partnerships to accelerate domestic capabilities across defense, manufacturing, and emerging technologies [00:02:48].
The widespread assumption that India lacks a historical strategic culture is a modern Western fallacy; deep empirical evidence from Ashoka's edicts to the Maratha and Sikh empires proves a continuous tradition of sophisticated statecraft borne out of existential necessity [00:05:52].
India's post-independence doctrinal phases (Non-Alignment, Strategic Autonomy) are largely context-specific reactions, with the post-1991 era best defined as a "Realignment" driven by the necessity of managing a rising China [00:23:06].
Current geopolitical volatility, particularly the transactional nature of US politics and the Middle East conflict, heavily impacts India's economic resilience, putting massive emphasis on securing Gulf relations (India's largest trade block and source of 9 million diaspora jobs) [00:38:20].
To secure its future up to 2047, India must embrace a "Tech Indigenization Paradox"—deepening short-term foreign technological partnerships to avoid stagnation, while strictly negotiating terms that build long-term indigenous sovereign capability [00:49:43].
2. Chronological Table of Contents
[00:00:10] Introduction & The Central Question for India
[00:04:52] Debunking the Myth: India’s Strategic Culture & History
[00:13:19] "Vishwaguru" vs. Civilizational State Realities
[00:17:00] Doctrinal Evolution: Non-Alignment to Realignment
[00:23:41] US Transactionalism & Trump 2.0 Implications
[00:28:22] The China Border Thaw: Tactical or Structural?
[00:50:45] Deconstructing the Indo-Pacific & Quad Dynamics
[01:00:04] Grand Strategy for 2047: Five Core Pillars
[01:04:42] Recommendations for the Next Generation of Thinkers
3. Detailed Thematic Summary
Historical Analysis & The Deep-Time Strategic Tradition
The Myth of an Ahistorical Elite: The Western charge that Indian elites have historically lacked a systematic, continuous tradition of strategic thought is demonstrably false. The reality is that statecraft was an existential requirement; empires that failed to think strategically were simply annihilated [00:05:52].
Antiquity to Early Modern Precedent: Evidence of sophisticated Indian strategic thought extends from the Mahabharata's debates on war and peace to the tangible geopolitical edicts of Ashoka from the 3rd century BC (approximately 2,300 years ago) [00:07:47].
The Early Modern Empires: During the early modern period, European powers (the British and French) deeply respected the strategic acumen of the Maratha Confederacy, the Mughal Empire, and the Sikh Empire. The British suffered significant military defeats at the hands of these powers, proving that Indian statecraft was highly formidable prior to full colonization [00:08:13].
Civilizational Reach: Historical Indian footprint continues to pay soft-power dividends. For instance, Southern China celebrates Indian monks who brought Buddhism to the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, and modern Indonesia still harbors intergenerational goodwill stemming from the 1955 Bandung Conference [00:12:00].
The Evolution of Indian Doctrine: From Non-Alignment to Realignment
The Mirage of Pure Non-Alignment: The concept of Non-Alignment was only highly effective for a remarkably brief window between 1955 and 1965, reaching its apex before 1962 when India simultaneously received maximal aid from both the US and the Soviet Union [00:18:20].
The Breakdown of the Doctrine: The 1962 war with China exposed the doctrine's inadequacy when neither superpower rushed to India's immediate rescue. By the 1971 Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty, the doctrine had morphed into a thinly veiled proxy for anti-Americanism, definitively ending true non-alignment [00:19:22].
The Nuclear Catalyst for Strategic Autonomy: "Strategic Autonomy" is heavily tied to India’s realization in the 1980s and 1990s that no global power would offer it a nuclear umbrella. Defying global condemnation, India tested in 1998 to establish an autonomous deterrent, a massive gamble that successfully culminated in the 2005 Civil Nuclear Agreement [00:20:06].
The Post-1991 "Realignment": Jaishankar actively rejects the term "Multi-alignment" because it erroneously implies India seeks mathematically equal relations with all powers. Instead, the post-1991 era is a "Realignment"—a structural hedging strategy designed to build robust ties with the US, Europe, Japan, and Russia to explicitly counter a unipolar, Chinese-dominated Asia [00:22:24].
Tactical Thaws & Structural Constraints: China and Pakistan
The October 2024 China Border Agreement: The recent disengagement is strictly a "tactical thaw," not a strategic resolution. China realized the border standoff was yielding zero dividends, and sought to buy quiet amidst US political uncertainty [00:28:53].
The Persistent Asymmetry: The underlying structural conflict remains severe: massive, continued military buildup in Tibet/Xinjiang, a highly asymmetric $100 billion trade deficit with China, and China's continued support for Pakistan (e.g., Operation Sindur) [00:30:37].
The Shifting Escalation Ladder with Pakistan: Following the 2016 diplomatic breaking point regarding Article 370 provocations, India altered its deterrence equilibrium. From the 2016 surgical strikes (Uri) to the 2019 Balakot airstrikes (Pulwama) and actions in 2025 (Pelgam), India has continuously pushed kinetic actions right up to the nuclear threshold, aiming to coerce the Pakistani state into abandoning terrorism via physical and economic punishment [00:34:00].
West Asia Geopolitics & Energy Resilience
Cold Equities in the Middle East: India is not pursuing a policy of "calculated ambiguity" or "neutrality" in West Asia; it is making cold, hard calculations based on shifting regional equities. Historically balancing Israel, Iran, and Arab states, India's priorities have drastically shifted [00:39:30].
The Supremacy of the Gulf: The UAE and the Gulf States represent India's paramount interest in the region. The Gulf is India's largest trading partner, the host of a 9 million strong Indian diaspora, and a vital node for energy and maritime security. Conversely, relations with Iran have depreciated (loss of gas sourcing, minimal diaspora) [00:38:20].
Energy Shocks as Macro-Threats: Energy security is an existential tripwire. Jaishankar contextualizes this by pointing to the 1991 Balance of Payments crisis, which was triggered not by domestic Indian failure, but by the First Gulf War spiking oil prices [00:41:37]. The state is currently preparing the public for rough inflationary months ahead, utilizing strategic reserves while aggressively diversifying into clean energy and new LNG supply chains to build long-term resilience [00:43:06].
The Tech Indigenization Paradox
Historical Execution Failures: While India recognized the strategic necessity of technology early on (space, nuclear, agriculture), execution has been wildly inconsistent. In the 1970s, the Indian government accurately predicted the rise of Japanese electronics manufacturing, formed a committee, and then utterly failed to follow through, resulting in decades of total reliance on electronics imports [00:47:14].
The Indigenization Paradox: To indigenize capabilities (like the current Semiconductor Mission or AI frameworks), India must ironically deepen its reliance on foreign partnerships in the short-term. Cutting off leading-edge AI models (like Anthropic's Claude) under the guise of "strategic autonomy" actually stifles domestic scientific advancement [00:49:43].
Defense Manufacturing Success: This paradox is successfully playing out in defense. After decades of struggle, India is now actively exporting defense articles at an impressive rate (developed over the last 5 years), achieved by engaging foreign technology while setting strict terms that prevent perpetual dependency [00:49:08].
Grand Strategy for 2047: The Five Pillars
Pillar 1: Internal Balancing: The ultimate purpose of Indian foreign policy is domestic capacity building. Diplomatic partnerships are merely tools to accelerate India's military and economic engine [01:01:12].
Pillar 2: Neighborhood Codependence: India must structurally integrate with its five immediate neighbors (Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives) using economic codependence to dampen regional political volatility [01:01:31].
Pillar 3: The Indo-Pacific Balance: The term Indo-Pacific functionally replaced the term "Asia-Pacific" (which birthed APEC and excluded India). India must maintain a balance of power against China in this theater, leveraging the Quad and developing massive maritime infrastructure like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands [00:51:52].
Pillar 4: Western Deterrence & Integration: Manage the structural threat of Pakistani state terrorism via kinetic coercion, while heavily integrating economically with West Asia via initiatives like the IMEC corridor (India-Middle East-Europe) [01:02:42].
Pillar 5: Shaping Global Governance: Transition from a rule-taker to an institution builder, leading the Global South and architecting new multilateral frameworks like the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Global Biofuels Alliance [01:03:26].
The Reference Vault
4. Data & Figures
Data Point
Value
Context
Timestamp
Ashoka's Edicts
3rd Century BC (~2,300 years ago)
The earliest documented evidence of highly structured Indian strategic thought regarding foreign relations.
The primary driver behind India's pragmatic shift to heavily favor the UAE/Gulf in its West Asian strategy over Iran.
[]
5. Core Frameworks & Mental Models
Internal Balancing (The True Purpose of Foreign Policy) [01:01:12]
In classical political science, internal balancing is the act of a state increasing its own economic and military power to counter a threat, rather than relying strictly on alliances. Jaishankar masterfully frames modern Indian diplomacy not as a quest for global prestige, but as a hyper-utilitarian tool to extract capital, tech, and defense resources from global partners (US, France, Russia) explicitly to construct a sovereign industrial base at home.
To achieve total tech sovereignty, you must first embrace technological dependency. Attempting to build an indigenous tech ecosystem (like semiconductors or LLMs) by aggressively locking out foreign IP actually dooms the domestic industry to generational stagnation. The statecraft lies in deeply engaging foreign tech giants to accelerate domestic science, while ruthlessly negotiating the terms of technology transfer so dependency has a hard sunset.
Multi-alignment suggests a naive mathematical balance—keeping Washington, Beijing, and Moscow at an equidistant arm's length. Jaishankar rejects this. India's post-1991 strategy is a true "Realignment." It acknowledges the asymmetric existential threat of a rising China on its border and deliberately structures deep, intersecting partnerships with the US, Europe, and Japan specifically to hedge against a unipolar, Chinese-dominated Asia.
A mental model to avoid being tricked by diplomatic theater. The October 2024 India-China border disengagement is not peace; it is a "tactical thaw." Both sides realized the friction point yielded diminishing returns, so they bought quiet. However, the underlying structural reality—massive infrastructure build-up in Tibet, a $100B trade deficit, and Chinese naval expansion—means strategic competition remains permanently hyper-active beneath the calm surface.
6. Anecdotes
The West African Infrastructure Surprise [00:11:21]
Context: Jaishankar relays a story of meeting diplomats from a small West African nation. He discovered that the local population deeply recognized and valued recent Indian investments in their infrastructure and telecom—a fact almost entirely unknown back in India. Why it matters: It highlights the discrepancy between India's actual geoeconomic footprint abroad and its internal self-perception, reinforcing why Indians need to better understand their own historical and modern linkages.
Context: In Southern China, local populations still actively celebrate and remember the ancient Indian monks who brought Buddhism across the Himalayas. Why it matters: It serves as physical proof of the deep-time, civilizational soft-power India wields in Asia, acting as an anchor for engagement that precedes modern nation-state borders.
The 1970s Electronics Committee Failure [00:47:14]
Context: In the mid-1970s, the Indian government accurately predicted the threat of Japanese electronic dumping and the strategic importance of domestic electronics. They formed a committee—and then did absolutely nothing. Why it matters: A stark cautionary tale showing that intent without execution is useless. It explains why India remained dependent on foreign hardware for decades, contrasting sharply with their successes in software and space.
Context: The massive economic liberalization of India in 1991 wasn't just born of internal epiphany; the immediate trigger was the First Gulf War. The US-led coalition against Iraq spiked global oil prices, and India simply couldn't pay the bill. Why it matters: It perfectly illustrates how macro-energy security and foreign conflicts act as direct structural vulnerabilities, radically altering domestic economic policy.
7. References & Recommendations
Books & Texts
Vishastra (The Untold History of Indian Statecraft): Jaishankar's latest book, serving as the core foundation for this entire strategic dialogue. [00:00:46]
The Mahabharata / Ramayana: Cited as the foundational epics containing highly sophisticated, ancient debates on the strategy of war, peace, and alliance making. [00:07:16]
People
Jawaharlal Nehru: Mentioned as the primary articulator and defender of the Non-Alignment concept in the early Cold War context. [00:18:26]
Narendra Modi: Referenced regarding the strategic shift from a "Vishwaguru" narrative to "Vishwa Mitra," and for his 2015 diplomatic visit to Lahore. [00:14:12]
William Dalrymple: Cited by Jaishankar as an author who has effectively popularized ancient Indian scientific ideas that influenced the broader world. [00:15:55]
Xi Jinping: Discussed in the context of US-China relations, the tactical thaw, and Trump's upcoming reciprocal summits. [00:26:30]
Nawaz Sharif: Former Pakistani Prime Minister, mentioned in the context of early attempts by PM Modi (2014-2016) to establish genuine diplomatic engagement before relations fractured. [00:33:45]
Donald Trump: Extensively discussed concerning US transactionalism, hard-bargaining on tariffs, and the "Pax Silica" technology framework. [00:24:27]
Joe Biden: Mentioned in the context of the initial 2024 Quad Summit postponement due to US domestic elections. [00:57:20]
Geopolitical Institutions & Alliances
APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation): Used as the ultimate example of why framing matters. By defining the region as "Asia-Pacific" in the 80s/90s, the West and China successfully excluded India from the core economic architecture. [00:51:52]
INDOPACOM vs. CENTCOM: The bureaucratic US military command structures. Jaishankar dismisses complaints that US and Indian views of the Indo-Pacific clash as pedantic, arguing that military command borders shouldn't impede strategic cooperation. [00:54:46]
Pax Silica: A newly emerging, US-led critical technology initiative under the Trump administration that subsumes tech-sharing among Quad members and 10 other nations. [00:59:06]
IMEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor): Highlighted as a crucial strategic pillar to bypass Pakistan and connect India economically to Western markets. [01:03:04]
IMF (International Monetary Fund): Referenced as a structural constraint that severely limits Pakistan's maneuvering capabilities due to its reliance on external debt financing. [00:35:59]
ISA (International Solar Alliance), BIMSTEC, Colombo Security Conclave, & Global Biofuels Alliance: Four key multilateral institutions specifically cited to illustrate India's Pillar 5 grand strategy of actively architecting new frameworks for global governance. [01:03:43]
Historical Events
The 1955 Bandung Conference: The seminal Asian-African conference that cemented the short-lived zenith of true Non-Alignment and Indian-Indonesian solidarity. [00:12:00]
The 1962 Sino-Indian War: The brutal wake-up call that collapsed the utopian vision of non-alignment, proving that in an existential crisis, neither the US nor the Soviets would automatically provide an umbrella. [00:19:08]
1998 Nuclear Tests: The defining moment of "Strategic Autonomy," where India absorbed immense global sanctions from all major powers to guarantee its ultimate security umbrella. [00:20:37]
1991 Balance of Payments Crisis: Triggered by the First Gulf War's oil shock, demonstrating how energy vulnerability forces immediate structural domestic reforms. [00:41:37]
Nullification of Article 370 (2019): Highlighted as a major pivot point in India-Pakistan relations following visible Pakistani support for unrest in J&K. [00:34:09]
Post-2016 Strikes (Uri, Pulwama/Balakot, Pelgam): The sequence of kinetic responses establishing India's new deterrence equilibrium—pushing military action just short of the nuclear threshold to punish state-sponsored terror. [00:34:16]
Companies / Technology
Anthropic / Claude: Mentioned specifically as leading-edge AI models that India cannot afford to block or ignore; doing so in the name of "autonomy" would only come at the catastrophic cost of domestic scientific stagnation. [00:50:27]
8. The Bottomline (by AI)
India is decisively shifting from a defensive posture of philosophical "non-alignment" to aggressive, hyper-pragmatic "internal balancing." The immediate imperative for capital allocators, technologists, and policymakers is to watch how India leverages short-term Western technology partnerships—specifically in AI, defense, and semiconductors—to permanently lock in sovereign, indigenous industrial capacity. As global transactionalism rises and US reliability wavers, India's economic survival will hinge entirely on the deep fortification of the Gulf trade corridor and the rapid transition away from vulnerable fossil energy dependencies.
Sep 3, 2026
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