The art of being no one's & everyone's

In geopolitics, optics often matter as much as words - and, sometimes, even more than words. Ahead of the SCO summit in Tianjin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy reached out to Narendra Modi, briefing him on efforts to end the war Russia began in 2022 against his country. That Ukraine's president turned to India - whose PM has been accused by Trump and his amplifiers of 'bankrolling' the conflict by purchasing Russian oil, and who shared a limo ride with Vladimir Putin at Tianjin (much like Putin took a ride in Trump's limo in Alaska in mid-August) - tell the same story: not falling into a camp can be a virtue.

Keeping channels of communication open remains the lifeblood of diplomacy. India is among the few countries that have maintained good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. This multi-alignment - its refusal to take sides - makes it a natural candidate for an honest broker. Yet, India has so far shied away from playing that role overtly by facilitating peace, or enabling a negotiated settlement.

In a fragmented world, the ability to move across groups is a superpower. It must be part of India's strategic autonomy arsenal. Its growing economy has secured India a place on the world stage. But it's the capacity to cut across differences that can give it real heft. At the same time, India's paradoxical realities - being the world's fourth-largest economy while having the lowest per-capita income in G20, with per-capita energy consumption well below the global average - make it punch below its weight. But these very constraints give it the flexibility to engage with countries across the spectrum as an equal partner. Rather than turn its back on this unique position, New Delhi must leverage it to strengthen its place in an increasingly atomised world.