External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India cannot adopt a simplistic “black and white” approach to relationships with major powers, arguing that New Delhi must navigate a fluid global environment while protecting its strategic interests.
US remains a major partner
Jaishankar described the United States as one of India’s most important strategic partners, pointing to the scale of economic, political, technology and defence engagement between the two countries.
At the same time, he stressed that foreign policy requires India to manage relationships across multiple centres of power rather than treating global alignments as fixed blocs.
Balancing multiple relationships
India continues to maintain longstanding ties with Russia, manage a difficult and competitive relationship with China, deepen engagement with Europe and the United Kingdom and expand partnerships across the Indo-Pacific and Global South.
This multi-alignment strategy has become a defining feature of Indian diplomacy. It allows New Delhi to cooperate with different countries on trade, technology, defence, energy and development even when those partners disagree on other international issues.
Strategic autonomy in a changing world
Jaishankar’s remarks reinforce the government’s broader emphasis on strategic autonomy. The approach seeks to preserve decision-making flexibility at a time of geopolitical competition, trade disputes, wars and shifting supply chains.
For India, the challenge is to expand economic and security partnerships without becoming overly dependent on any one power centre. This approach is likely to remain central to New Delhi’s external policy as global tensions continue to reshape alliances and institutions.
Source context: The remarks were reported by Indian media on October 6, 2026.