Independence Day 2022: A look at India's rise as a global power in new world order

Seventy-five years ago, on 15 August, 1947, India gained independence. Over the subsequent decades, the nation evolved into an international system that was largely created and guided by the United States and its partners.

Amid a shifting global landscape, India has used the opportunity to put in place a new framework for its own security, growth, and development, and that of developing countries around the world. As a rising global power, India’s principle endeavor has been to sustain its rapid economic growth and to prove to the world its capability strengthening its development trajectory.

By IMF estimates, India already accounts for 15% of the world's growth. Despite being a growing economy, India still proportionately shoulders the world's economic burden.

India's expanding global profile

Steered by a decisive leadership, India now has a significantly enlarged global profile and the stage is set for the country to realise its vision of becoming a $5 trillion economy in the next five years and a $10 trillion economy in the next decade-and-a-half, the president of World Economic Forum had said in October 2019.

"India's commitment to renewable energy through voluntary and ambitious renewable power capacity targets, a lead role in the Paris Climate Agreement negotiations, and the International Solar Alliance shows its aspiration of becoming a leader in environmental security and climate change mitigation," said Borge Brende, in an opinion piece for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's website.

With half of its population of working age, India has a unique demographic advantage. Climbing to the 46th spot in this year's Global Innovation Index, India is one of the few countries to have consecutively improved its rank for over 10 years.

Initiatives aimed at revamping India's restrictive business regulations have already borne fruit. India improved its rank by 23 positions - climbing to 63rd place - in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report.

India and United Nations

In September 2019, PM Narendra Modi led the Indian delegation to the high-level segment of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. On the sidelines of the UNGA session, PM Modi hosted a high-level event titled, “Leadership Matters: Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in the Contemporary World” to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. 

The UNGA also adopted a resolution declaring 21st June as the International Day of Yoga, with a record number of 177 cosponsors. In October 2018, India was elected to the Human Rights Council for the period 2019-2022 with the highest number of votes (188/193).

India was also elected the Chair of the Executive Board (EB) of the World Health Organization at the virtual meeting held on 22
May 2020. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, former Minister of Health and Family Welfare, became the Chairman of EB for one year.

India’s neutrality & strategic relations with Russia and the West

In June 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted Germany’s invitation to attend the G7 meeting amid prevalent geopolitical complexities where India needed to protect its national interests and preserve its valued partnership with the United States as well as Russia.

While the Ukraine war continued with no clear end in sight, India neither came under the Western influence to condemn the Russian aggression nor supported the Russian military operations in Ukraine. India also did not support the Western sanctions against Russia despite repeated diplomatic pressure not to buy Russian energy sources.

India fully and actively participated in the Quad foreign ministers’ meet and summit meetings, and at the same time, it also participated in the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) meeting, and more recently BRICS meeting where Russia and China were active players.

As a responsible member of the international community, India has tried to cool the tempers in multilateral meetings with members of the opposing camps. India has come forward to contribute towards combating the pandemic, addressing the food crisis, and backing the efforts of the G7 and G20 to ensure global warming mitigation and confront several non-traditional security threats.

Since the time of Independence, India has come a long way in emerging as a global power, and there's only one way to go - forward.