Strategic Autonomy On Display: India's Engagement With Major Powers In 2025
India navigated intensifying great-power rivalry in 2025 by engaging Washington, Moscow, Beijing and Brussels without formal alignment, signalling confidence in a multipolar world.
Published : December 23, 2025 at 6:01 AM IST
New Delhi: As great-power rivalries sharpened and geopolitical fault lines deepened in 2025, India spent the year carefully navigating relations with the world’s most powerful actors without being drawn into rival camps.
Balancing a security partnership with the US, maintaining a time-tested strategic relationship with Russia, keeping channels open with China, and steadily expanding partnership with the European Union (EU), New Delhi doubled down on its doctrine of strategic autonomy – engaging with all, aligning with none.
For much of the past decade, India-US ties were framed as a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership anchored in shared democratic values, expanding economic links, and growing security cooperation. The Partnership is a deepening bond across defence, tech, trade, and energy, aiming for an open Indo-Pacific, with key initiatives like the TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology) framework for AI/semiconductors, critical minerals, and supply chain resilience, alongside major defence deals, energy cooperation (nuclear/oil), and growing people-to-people ties.
Though Modi went to Washington in February on a working visit soon after Donald Trump took office for a second term, real stresses emerged in the India-US relationship in 2025. Trade frictions widened as the US under President Trump imposed steep tariffs on Indian exports, particularly citing India’s trade practices and its energy ties with Russia. The tariffs – up to 50 percent on some Indian goods – dented optimism in economic dialogue and underscored rising protectionist sentiment in Washington.
Negotiations on a comprehensive trade agreement continued through the year, with Indian leadership noting that progress was being made despite tensions and the US conceding that New Delhi is a tough talker. The government emphasised trade talks as a priority to ease tariff burdens and reinvigorate bilateral commerce.
Despite economic headwinds, security cooperation remained a pillar of the bilateral relationship. India’s participation in multilateral frameworks like the Quad, that also comprises the US, Japan, and Australia, including joint naval exercises, signalled continued engagement on maritime security and Indo-Pacific stability.
Yet, friction over issues such as US disapproval of India’s oil purchases from Russia and differing approaches to China highlighted an uneven trajectory in which cooperation on defence and technology persisted even as trade and economic ties faced setbacks. In 2025, India’s relationship with Russia remained one of its most resilient bilateral partnerships, rooted in longstanding historical, defence, and energy cooperation.
Trade hit record levels, driven by India’s sustained imports of Russian crude and fertilisers, even as Western sanctions remained in place. Bilateral trade targets — including a goal of $100 billion by 2030 — continued to guide engagement.
Defence collaboration continued to be substantial. Beyond traditional procurement of equipment like the S-400 air defence systems, the two countries pursued joint research and potential future acquisitions, such as advanced platforms.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s December visit to New Delhi underscored the diplomatic importance of the relationship. Both Prime Minister Modi and President Putin emphasised cooperation on economic and strategic fronts. New Delhi portrayed the meeting as focused on mutual development rather than geopolitics – an effort to decouple bilateral ties from external pressure campaigns.
India maintained its role alongside Russia in platforms like BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), signalling commitment to multipolar diplomacy even as Washington sought closer alignment on Eurasian security issues.
This posture drew criticism from Western capitals – especially in Europe -where India’s engagement with Russia was viewed as a potential obstacle to deeper strategic ties.
India’s relationship with China remained ambiguous and multifaceted in 2025, characterised by competition, cautious engagement, and selective cooperation. High-level meetings and diplomatic dialogues continued, underlining efforts to manage longstanding border issues and reduce friction.
At the same time, mutual distrust persisted, rooted in bilateral talks on territorial disputes and competing visions for regional order. This dual track – negotiating practical mechanisms while preparing for competition – reflected India’s prioritisation of strategic stability without capitulation or containment.
Economic linkages between the two giants – including robust trade flows and cross-border investments – coexisted with strategic rivalry, especially in technology, supply chains, and regional influence. Both sides regularly affirmed the need for coexistence to prevent escalation but remained cautious of deeper military cooperation. In a significant development, Modi visited China for the 2025 SCO Summit held in Tianjin on August 31-September 1. This was his first visit to the northern neighbour after the border dispute erupted in eastern Ladakh in 2020.
Despite China’s rise and its strategic posture in Asia, New Delhi’s engagement in multilateral forums – ranging from the Quad to BRICS – represented an attempt to hedge against any singular bloc dominance.
The year 2025 saw the EU actively pursuing closer ties with India, recognising New Delhi as a democratic and economic heavyweight vital for balancing global power dynamics. Brussels unveiled a multi-pillar strategy focused on economic ties, sustainable energy, technology cooperation, and crisis management, signalling a broadening agenda beyond traditional trade.
Discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA) progressed as the EU sought to diversify its supply chains and reduce reliance on other global markets, positioning India as a key economic partner. Though the FTA was expected to be signed by this year’s end, discussions have now spilled over to the coming year.
A persistent sticking point in EU-India ties was New Delhi’s relationship with Russia. While the EU viewed deeper cooperation as strategically valuable, officials openly acknowledged tensions arising from India’s engagement with Moscow and participation in joint exercises that concerned European security sensibilities.
Despite this, defence collaborations with EU member states – including aircraft and submarine deals – underlined concrete progress in bilateral cooperation. The EU’s offer to partner in areas such as cybersecurity, AI, and critical minerals suggested a broader strategic vision aligning with India’s growth trajectory, even as differing geopolitical priorities required careful diplomacy on both sides.
In fact, throughout 2025, India’s diplomatic engagements demonstrated a consistent effort to preserve strategic autonomy – maintaining partnerships without formal alliances that could constrain its policy choices. At an event in Pune in December, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar described the international order as akin to “coalition politics”, where fluid and flexible relationships are essential.
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