Positioning India in a chaotic world

Context:

With newer political challenges, alongside old-fashioned geo-political risks hovering around, India needs that its foreign policy planners rewire the way they look at issues.

Changed meaning of non-alignment

• India’s new version of non-alignment: India in the recent meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO made it clear that it wants to steer an independent course, despite the open association with rival blocs. Example: Refusing to take sides in the Ukrainian conflict for months.
• Nonalignment of the past: The earlier version of non-alignment has not yielded expected outcomes, and it's time now to look for new ways to fructify “multiple engagements of the future”.
• “Multi-alignment’ and challenges: Although the west has appreciated India's participation in Quad (Australia, Japan, India, and the U.S.), it will be interesting to see how things develop under the threats of imposed sanctions if India continued trade relations with Iran.