India s Strategic Autonomy at a Crossroads: Between Boldness and Restraint

The article aims to unveil the evolving nature of India’s strategic autonomy in the background of an emerging “multiplex world order” characterised by competing power centres, dispersed legitimacy and contested global governance. Against this backdrop, this study revolves around three critical objectives: first, it traces the historical foundations and evolution of India’s strategic autonomy in response to the changing geopolitical needs of global politics; second, it examines India’s strategic choices concerning its regional stability and great power rivalry; third, it also explores India’s dynamic role as a voice of the Global South. Given this context, this study argues that the Indian quest for autonomy is anchored by its historical experience and civilizational values, rather than by mere strategic calculations.  The article further traces India's strategic shift from non-alignment to a pragmatic stance in the post-Cold War period and, finally, to the current multi-alignment strategy. It investigates how New Delhi seeks to establish ties with the United States, China, and Russia without committing to any of the rigid alliances. It also addresses India’s growing engagement with various regional and multilateral institutions like BRICS, QUAD, SCO, and G20 to secure its regional and global interests. The paper concludes that strategic autonomy today operates as an issue-based, flexible, and pragmatic approach that enables India to make independent foreign policy decisions, engage with multiple centers of power, align situationally, and establish itself as a stabilizing force and a prominent mouthpiece of the Global South.