India being the party to SCO and QUAD is one of many instances showing the growing strategic autonomy of India in the global arena. Discuss the reasons for growing stature of India highlighting the various instances where India is exhibiting its sovereignty and self-interest.

India being the party to SCO and QUAD is one of many instances showing the growing strategic autonomy of India in the global arena. Discuss the reasons for growing stature of India highlighting the various instances where India is exhibiting its sovereignty and self-interest.

Introduction

Strategic autonomy denotes the ability of a state to pursue its national interests and adopt its preferred foreign policy without being constrained in any manner to other states

• In its purest form, strategic Autonomy presupposes the state in question possessing overwhelmingly superior power

• This is what enables state to resist the pressures that may be exerted by other states to compel it to change its policy or moderate its interests

The Instances showing the growing strategic autonomy of India in the global arena:

1. India engaging in 2+2 dialogue Signing of COMCASA Agreement
2. Declining to oblige China, to extend China’s Belt and Road Corridor
3. India reasserting its territory by revoking Article 370, and sticking to its decision even after opposition from China and Pakistan
4. India joining the QUAD grouping to make its presence felt in the Indo-Pacific region
5. Indian leaders attending the ‘Shangri-La Dialogue’ Indian increased engagement with ASEAN
6. India reaching out to China and Russia through Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The reasons for growing stature of India in this perspective are:

1. To align with the military, strategic and diplomatic policies of world leaders, signified in the 2+2 dialogue.
2. To bring in a rule based Global Order in foreign relations dimensions
3. It is intended to signify special relationship with developed nations
4. To constrain the China’s ambitions in the Indo-pacific region, which is now being seen as biggest power in Asia
5. To address real concerns with neighbours, such as Pakistan emerging as home for Terrorism
6. India is seeking to rebalance its ties, by drawing equivalence in ties with great powers of world
7. India’s long lasting expectations for the world to be Multi- Polar

Conclusion

On the whole, India should not be blind to the current realities. Even though there needs to be a limit in what we seek from other nations, there should never be a compromise with our strategic autonomy