SINCE the beginning of 21st century, India has presented itself as a growing economy and the key voice of the Global South.
With this narrative, India presented itself at various multilateral forums to work for the uplift of developing and under-developed countries. Indian membership in the organizations like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was seen as a sequel to this development. India had assumed that these two regional organizations will provide it an opportunity to present itself as the leading partner to pursue its national interests under their blanket coverage. Nevertheless, India acted quite differently and tried to use these platforms for attainment of its own strategic objectives while being disrespectful to the goals of these organizations.
Besides, India advanced its strategic and economic partnership with the US and West even at the cost of BRICS and SCO. Indeed, New Delhi maintained a dual alignment; accruing benefits from the US and the West while simultaneously making use of its membership of BRICS and SCO. How could India remain a strategic partner of the US while being a member of these organizations which practically deny US global domination and ask for multipolarity? Indeed, BRICS was once seen as the counter strategy to western financial hegemony, achieved by the IMF and World Bank. India is the founding member of this organization and SCO since 2017.
Simultaneously, it is a key member of Quad (with the US, Japan and Australia) and engages actively in G-20 and other Western-oriented platforms. Under the US strategic concept of Indo-Pacific, India is playing a role to strategically restrain China in the Indian Ocean. These all cannot go together; India will have to commit itself with East or West sometime sooner! In the era of cold war, India was getting support from the former Communist Bloc under the Soviet Union as its strategic partner. Simultaneously, it was making use of the West against China after the Sino-India war-1962. There have been studies in the West and US about the dual role of India, a strategy to deceive both East and West and now asking for preserving its strategic autonomy. Before Trump, the Biden Administration had asked India to stop aligning with Russia, especially in the garb of Russia-Ukraine war.
Despite Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with US President Trump in February 2025, ill-feelings persist in Washington over India’s decades-long dual role. The Trump Administration has repeatedly warned New Delhi about its regional and global conduct. A strong perception prevails at the White House that India under Modi is cheating the US, West and international organizations to serve its own strategic, economic and political interests. After multiple warnings, President Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on all Indian imports effective August 1, 2025. Additionally, the US plans to penalize India further if it continues purchasing Russian oil and munitions. Calling India the “tariff king” and a “big abuser” of trade ties, Trump declared he will not allow such exploitation under his leadership. The West now views India as untrustworthy, using alliances merely for self-interest. Moreover, India’s intelligence agency, RAW, has allegedly fostered terrorism networks across Europe and the American continents, heightening global concerns.
Since the start of 21st century, India has been constantly deepening its military, economic and diplomatic ties with the United States and West while trying to portray itself as the key member of the BRICS and SCO; deceitful with both simultaneously. It has been trying to achieve claims to balance with “strategic autonomy.” It is worth mentioning that SCO and BRICS have been critical to the unipolar world under the US and Dollar oriented global economy. India, on its part, has been constantly supporting the supremacy of USD. This is a counter narrative to BRICS policies. Alex Travelli argued in his article “One of These BRICS Is Not Like the Others” in The New York Times that India’s growing tilt toward the West sets it apart from its BRICS partners, raising doubts about its commitment to the bloc’s anti-Western agenda.
It is very surprising that India is a key member of the US-led Quad (with Japan and Australia) and the US-led Indo-Pacific Concept; both aimed to counter China. The Indo-Pacific concept aims to attain interconnected areas encompassing the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including the sea lanes and countries that border them. It is a region of growing strategic importance due to its economic dynamism, major global powers and various security challenges. These two strategic alliances / concepts are contradictory to aims and objectives of SCO where China is a dominant state. In the evolving geopolitical scenarios, Russia and China are staunch partners in the Eurasian region, trying to reduce the American global dominance. How can India qualify itself as a member of SCO, while taking all actions against the essence of this organization?
After a military defeat by Pakistan in May 2025, India persuades China for a possible reconciliation and silently reached out to Russia for the revival of Russia-India-China (RIC) troika which has been dysfunctional for many years. This is again an irritant for the US. China is very much aware of shifting Indian strategy to regain its lost position. Indeed, West has understood the Indian deceitful policies and the double game it has been playing with them for decades. Both Europe and the US have precluded Indian devious narratives. New Delhi is facing a similar response from SCO and BRICS states where it has acted as a spoiler. International community has understood that, while sitting at fence: India is deceiving the world at political, strategic and economic level.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
