Beijing has been moving carefully to buttress an anti-West/anti-US alliance, an idea that has takers in the global south. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its retreat from West Asia have not helped. Though engaged in the Indo-Pacific, the Ukraine invasion pulled the US back into Europe. If the rules-based world order is to be strengthened, then it needs a different approach, one based on partnership and its values. The NSAs discussed, among other issues, a major joint infrastructure project to connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways that would also be connected to India via shipping lanes from ports in the region. It is these ties and partnerships that must form the basis of the world of the coming decades. India can play a critical role.
For India, this is a moment of unparalleled opportunities. The geopolitics that has long kept it out of the main stage is now increasingly putting it in the spotlight. Yet, India’s challenges have not altered significantly. India, too, needs a new approach. Thinking out of the box, it can leverage its experience as a low middle-income country, with one of the fastest-growing economies that still must overcome developmental deficits to engage with countries in a partnership.