Look into India’s eyes today and you’ll see it—quiet, youthful confidence reshaping the nation and its place in the world.
It is easy for countries that exist in less complex geopolitical geography to misunderstand India’s multifaceted interests. Leaving aside the relations between the US and Pakistan, and the White House’s seeming desire to "normalise" relations with China, a simple examination of the method of the Afghan withdrawal—which left billions of dollars in weapons in the hands of those hostile to India—answers that question.
Family is complex, sometimes difficult, always changing. There are births, deaths, marriages, divorces, siblings you trust, cousins who lie, fights, reunions, and more. But the bottom line is: you are stuck together, and you’d better try to make it work—for everyone’s sake.
If a rich brother lives next to a poor brother, the rich brother won’t be secure until the poor brother is doing okay.
You can see the change in India in bigger things—new metro lines, highways, moon missions—but for me, the most powerful glimpse of a transforming India is what you see when, as a non-Indian, you look into the eyes of Indians and see them looking back at you.
What do I see in their eyes? Confidence.
This is especially true for young Indians. If they are twenty, they have spent half their lives watching their country go through some of the world’s biggest challenges—terrorism, attacks from China, a pandemic, America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and economic crises.
At the same time, India took on complex, India-specific, nation-shaping issues like Article 370 and the Ram Mandir. There have been ups and downs but, overall, young Indians have mostly known a period of economic growth, longer life expectancy, rising literacy, and an increasingly globally important India.
Young Indians have also seen a West that has seemingly acted capriciously, with minimal ability to defend itself from even obvious dangers such as TikTok. Across a range of sectors, Western credibility has taken hit after hit:
The 2007–08 financial crisis and subsequent recessions (damaging credibility of US market stability).
The Afghan withdrawal (lack of strategic foresight).
Mishandling of COVID-19 (corrupt academia).
Politicised energy policy around climate change.
Persistent derogatory and inaccurate coverage of India (biased media).
Rising domestic polarisation in the West (shaky integrity).
Harbouring terrorists hostile to India (strategic hypocrisy).
Extended US visa delays (conflicted State Department commitment).
On the other side, they have seen a China militarising stolen islands, imprisoning hundreds of thousands for their faith or political beliefs, invading its neighbours (including India), threatening others, and actively distorting the global economy through illegal trade practices.
The change has been so organic that it is hard to remember what India was like just over a decade ago, before the elections of 2014.
One of the most burning issues of that time was corruption. In 2011, I wrote for the Huffington Post titled “World’s #9 Most Powerful Person Now Accused of Corruption—Will She Fall?”
Sonia Gandhi had just been named the world’s ninth most powerful person by Forbes, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ranked eighteenth. The article noted:
“Gandhi remains the real power behind the nuclear-tipped throne […] she has cemented her status as true heiress to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.”
But scandals were bursting onto front pages fast and thick. The 2G spectrum scam alone cost close to $40 billion in lost revenue. The Supreme Court, fed up, called it:
“a plunder of the nation. A pure and simple theft of national money. A mind-boggling crime.”
The corruption was debilitating India both domestically and internationally. On 4 July 2011, the Supreme Court declared that vast flows of unaccounted money in foreign banks were a national security concern, exposing the "softness of the state."
While eliminating corruption entirely is nearly impossible, the scale back then shackled India’s potential. But change was coming—civil society movements, the Action Committee Against Corruption in India (ACACI), and the Gujarat model under then–Chief Minister Narendra Modi started to shift public mood.
We know what happened next.
India today is very different. Corruption still exists but no longer plagues the entire system. Over the past decade, foreign policy has become one of the most visible markers of India’s transformation.
Consider India’s defence ties with the US:
2016: Designated a Major Defence Partner.
Signed foundational agreements: LEMOA, COMCASA, BECA.
2018: US Pacific Command renamed Indo-Pacific Command.
Signed logistics pacts with Quad partners (Australia, Japan).
Increasingly supported Pacific partners (e.g., BrahMos sale to the Philippines).
Beyond the US, India deepened ties with Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Taiwan. It fostered innovative groupings such as the Quad and I2U2, while also staying engaged in BRICS and SCO—leveraging even hostile environments for influence.
India’s doctrine of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—the world is one family—offers a vision distinct from both the West and China. Unlike the CCP, which weakened the family unit through policies like the One-Child Policy, India’s extended family ethos resonates in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, India prioritised evacuating its students. In Qatar, quiet diplomacy turned a death sentence for retired Navy officers into a successful engagement. Many leaders instinctively understood India’s family-driven approach.
This philosophy is not "non-alignment" but "all-alignment," or realignment—reshaping global cooperation on India’s terms.
From banning Chinese apps like TikTok after Galwan, to restructuring its military, to quietly but effectively asserting itself abroad, India today is unrecognisable compared to a decade ago.
The world increasingly says: “We want more India.”
But with greater influence come greater risks—disinformation campaigns, proxy wars, and even military aggression.
Still, whether it’s the eyes of a young researcher, a shopkeeper, a teacher, or a soldier, there is now a casual confidence that wasn’t there before.
They know what India can be. And their eyes glint Jai Hind.
