India’s vision of world order: multi-alignment, exceptionalism and peaceful co-existence

This article explores India’s view of the world order and its role in it. As the world’s largest democracy and emerging power India is seen as a key actor and partner for the West in the global order. The article argues that India does not want to be merely co-opted into the existing liberal order and join the Western international community but pursue its own world-order policy. This policy is informed by the conviction that the future world order will be polycentric, in which multiple powerful actors with different political systems, cultural traditions and interests are interlocked in interdependent relations. Therefore, India must pursue a policy of multi-alignment and seek partnerships with all the relevant actors in the world, while avoiding overly close or one-sided relations with particular countries or groupings. India’s priorities are its foreign policy autonomy, socio-economic development and the overcoming of political and economic discrimination in the world order.