India’s foreign policy strategy remains focused on diversification and hedging despite the challenges posed by Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has significantly impacted international politics, yet India’s foreign policy strategy remains largely unchanged. This is primarily due to its emphasis on diversification and hedging, as outlined in a recent report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace titled “India and a Changing Global Order: Foreign Policy in the Trump 2.0 Era.”
The report highlights India’s commitment to strategic autonomy, enabling the nation to navigate a fragmented international landscape effectively. While the second Trump administration has introduced elements of unpredictability and economic coercion, India has intensified its engagement with Europe and other middle powers, expanded its economic diplomacy, and maintained crucial relationships with countries such as Russia.
As geopolitical competition escalates, the sustainability of India’s approach remains uncertain. However, the report suggests that “India’s response to the turbulence of Trump 2.0 offers a revealing window into how rising powers navigate uncertainty in an increasingly fragmented international system.”
The report further examines how the tensions within the international system have compelled India to make tactical adjustments while preserving the broader strategic orientation that has historically guided its diplomacy. Despite occasional friction, the United States continues to play a central role in India’s long-term strategic objectives, particularly in defense cooperation, advanced technology, and efforts to counterbalance China’s growing influence.
At the same time, uncertainty surrounding U.S. policy has reinforced India’s instinct to broaden its network of partners. This pattern is also evident in the Middle East, where India has sought to maintain parallel relationships with rival actors, including Israel, Gulf states, and Iran, while avoiding formal alignments.
India’s responses to the Trump administration do not indicate a dramatic realignment but rather a careful balancing of trade-offs among its various relationships. The report identifies a third dynamic that India must confront: the increasing use of economic statecraft by the Trump administration, which has highlighted how quickly economic interdependence can be weaponized through tariffs and other forms of economic coercion.
This shift has prompted India to reassess its approach to trade, supply chains, and technology cooperation. The report notes that India has accelerated trade negotiations with major partners, recalibrated its domestic regulatory policies, and deepened its integration into emerging global technology networks. In this context, economic integration is being redefined as a pillar of strategic resilience rather than merely a commercial interest.
Another significant theme in the report concerns India’s institutional adaptation to a more fragmented international system. As multilateral institutions face a crisis of credibility, India has increasingly relied on smaller, more flexible coalitions to pursue its interests. These include issue-based partnerships in technology and security, such as the U.S.-India COMPACT and the UK-India Technology Security Initiative (TSI), along with geopolitical groupings like the Quad and BRICS.
However, these forums are also influenced by shifts in U.S. policy and the broader dynamics of major-power competition, requiring India to carefully calibrate its participation to avoid backlash from key partners. Despite longstanding grievances with international institutions like the United Nations, India has not abandoned multilateralism. Instead, New Delhi appears to be pursuing a layered strategy that combines support for global institutions with the strategic use of bilateral and minilateral cooperation.
The report concludes that while Trump 2.0 has generated significant disruption across the international system, it has also reaffirmed several core assumptions that have long underpinned India’s foreign policy. The volatility of U.S. leadership has both strengthened and validated New Delhi’s instinct to diversify its partnerships.
Furthermore, the erosion of multilateral institutions has reinforced India’s calls for reform and for more representative global governance. The intensifying rivalry among major powers underscores the continuing importance of strategic autonomy for India.
Thus, the report emphasizes that India’s response to Trump 2.0 has been characterized less by strategic rupture and more by tactical adjustment. Across various domains, including trade policy, technology cooperation, great-power relations, and global governance, Indian policymakers have adapted the specifics while preserving a broader strategy centered on diversification, flexibility, and hedging, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.