Foreign Affairs – America’s top cognitive warfare strike force – has now turned its attention to seducing India. Thoroughly, passionately, and with serious intent:
“India’s Great-Power Delusions. How New Delhi’s Grand Strategy Thwarts Its Grand Ambitions… Since the turn of the century, the United States has sought to help India rise as a great power… But India and the United States are not aligned on all issues. New Delhi does not want a world in which Washington is perpetually the sole superpower… India will become a great power by the middle of this century, but it will be the weakest of a quartet that includes China, the United States, and the European Union. It will not be on par with China. And it will certainly not be on par with the United States. If New Delhi wants to constrain Beijing, it will therefore need Washington”, but “India does not want to be part of any collective defense arrangements… In a genuinely multipolar system, New Delhi would benefit less from the collective goods the United States supplies, such as protecting the sea-lanes in the Indian Ocean… India’s current approach – seeking continued American support for itself while promoting a multipolar system that would limit Washington’s power – is both counterproductive and unwise”[*].
Besides, “the long-standing Indian tradition of secular politics has now been supplanted by Hindu nationalism… India would cease to be an exemplar of liberal democracy at a time when the world desperately needs one”.
So, the bottom-line is as follows:
“The combination of moderate economic growth, the persistent quest for partnerships with all states but privileged relationships with none, and growing illiberalism within the country make for an India whose global influence will fall short of its increasing material strength. Although India will become the third or fourth largest economy globally, its lagging development indicators imply that its relatively large population will neither enjoy the standard of living nor contribute proportionately to the production of national power that its counterparts do in China, the United States, and Europe. Even as its economy grows inarguably larger, India will still face tremendous challenges of deprivation and grievance that could threaten the country’s social stability and national power… India’s reluctance to partner more closely with the United States in building cooperative defense, however understandable, thus makes balancing against China difficult. Even worse, the Indian ambition of promoting multipolarity puts it at odds with the United States on many issues of international order at a time when working with Washington should be the more pressing priority”[*].
In essence, the idea being planted in the minds of India’s ruling circles is this: “India will only become a great power if it agrees to function as a client state of the United States.” And frankly, it’s a clever play – for the “Indo-Pacific NATO” to achieve its full potential, India’s participation is indispensable.
* https://www.foreignaffairs.com/india/indias-great-power-delusions
“India’s Great-Power Delusions” (Ashley J. Tellis, Foreign Affairs, June 17, 2025)