Round The World

New Delhi, 2 January 2026

India’s Foreign Policy in 2025

 Absorbing Socks and Surprises

By Dr. D.K. Giri

(Prof of Practice, NIIS Group of Institutions) 

The year just gone by, 2025, has been a challenging year for India’s foreign policy. It was marked by regional hostilities, strained ties with key global partners, and fresh turbulence in its immediate neighbourhood.

The year began with optimism, but diplomatic gains were overshadowed by significant setbacks – socks and surprises – testing India’s strategic resilience and autonomy.

The return of Donald Trump to the White House for the second term brought unexpected disruptions, with tariff hikes and sanctions pressure, stretching India’s risks. The US imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods, in some sectors upto 50 per cent. This sudden hike hit labor-intensive sectors like apparel and sea food. India’s response consisting mainly of diversifying trade options and reinforcing energy security, displayed its strategic autonomy.

A matter of major concern was resetting ties with United States. The consolidation of US-India relations over two decades seemed to be upended by Donald Trump, unexpectedly in the second term. Indian political masses and the leadership were hopeful of better ties with USA in Donald Trump’s second term. Such expectations were due to Trump’s backing India and targeting China as a major rival in his first term. But his volte-face in the second term has surprised a great many international observers across the world. One could attribute such a dramatic change to the unpredictability in Trump’s utterances and some actions.

Despite setbacks, India registered some gains with China, Canada and Russia. Ties with Europe somewhat improved and reengagement with Canada and China began, although with underlying tensions.

Contrasting with India-US relations, New Delhi did much better with China and Russia. But the jury is still out on China’s policy and postures towards India. Beijing has been historically deceptive; while talking peace and reconciliation, it has not stopped from entering militarily into disputed territories and making wild claims on the state of Arunachal Pradesh etc. India has tried to balance ties with China and maintain historical ties with Russia in the face of American pressure to cut-off oil trade with Moscow and be wary of China. Yet, Donald Trump himself has been prevaricating on US´s ties with China.

India has been asserting strategic autonomy in its foreign policy throughout 2025, but it has not calculated the costs of such a strategy in an inter-dependent world. The continued Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in Gaza and rising protectionism will complicate India’s diplomatic landscape.

India’s economic and energy security faced considerable challenges. The sanctions on import of  Russian oil and trade tensions with US affected India’s import and export regime. However, as said, India diversified trade options and signed FTAs with the United Kingdom, Oman and New Zealand.

India’s neighbourhood diplomacy faced fresh challenges, particularly with Bangladesh’s confrontational posture and Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism. The Pahalgam terror attack led to Operation Sindoor targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Although, the war lasted less than three days with Islamabad asking for a ceasefire, subsequent Pakistan’s sympathy-seeking diplomatic moves somewhat put New Delhi on tenterhooks. India sought to counter attack Pakistan diplomatically by commissioning an all-party delegation to several big powers. India will continue to face tension with Pakistan, Bangladesh and persisting political instability in Nepal. Furthermore, upcoming elections in these countries will potentially impact regional stability.

However, the year saw increased regional instability with terrorism threats in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan’s sponsoring terrorist groups. New Delhi’s ´Operation Sindoor´ demonstrated military capability, but diplomatic support for New Delhi’s cross-border action remained muted. And worse, Donald Trump kicked-off an avoidable controversy by repeatedly claiming that he mediated between India and Pakistan for the ceasefire. New Delhi’s reactions to Trump’s claims were that of denial,  giving any credit to Donald Trump. South Block could have reacted differently such as thanking anybody for actively helping or for their good wishes in ending any war. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was famously and universally acknowledged for telling the Russian President, that ´it is no time for war´. However, India’s military action in Pakistan was certainly provoked by Pakistan’s continued support for terror attacks in India.

As India enters 2026, its foreign policy will most likely focus on strategic autonomy, economic security, and regional stability. The forthcoming BRICS and Quad summits will test India’s coordinating power and diplomatic heft.

Critics argue that in 2025, there was a contrast witnessed between the government claims on India´s foreign policy and a narrative that emerged from developed countries, namely, a spike in anti-Indian hate campaign, discrimination and physical violence targeting Indian immigrant and Diaspora communities.

United States where over 4 million Indian Americans reside, saw a dramatic surge in anti-Indian rhetoric. In October 2025, a US Congressman publicly called for the ´mass removal of Indian Americans´ as and when necessary, invoking a national security issue. While such undiplomatic statement incurred large-scale condemnation, it also provoked online threats and criticism of Indian Americans. Physical assaults followed the online hate campaign. According to media reports, many Indian students faced in 2025 racist slurs, muggings and violent incidents in cities like New York and San Francisco. In Canada, where Indian immigrants constitute the largest Diaspora, hate and violence were experienced in both online and public spheres.

Even in Britain where Indian immigrants have been occupying high public positions including one becoming the Prime Minister of the country heightened hostility against Indians was seen in different towns of the country. British social media was issuing calls to ´throw them out´. Such campaigns emerged from cultural habits of Indian immigrants like public spitting of Paan (Betel leaves). This was unduly magnified by tabloids and online portals calling it ´uncivilised behaviour´. The hostility was extended to Australia where Indians faced similar backlash owing to immigration debates and accusations of ´job stealing´ etc. Similar incidents, though less prominent, were witnessed in European countries including Germany. Even in New Zealand with which India just signed an FTA, there were far-right protests against Indian cultural events.

To be fair, the wave of hostility against Indian immigrants in 2025 could be attributed to economic anxieties in the host countries, rise of far-right rhetoric and politics and social media exaggeration. In any case, New Delhi has to counter such campaigns, and protect the image and security of Indian Diaspora. Prime Minister Modi has been focusing on Indian immigrant communities across the world as ambassadors of Indian culture, ethos and interest.

One could perhaps conclude that 2025 has been a year of significant challenges that brought socks and surprises for India’s foreign policy. At the same time, India was resilient as usual to absorb the setbacks and yet register trade and economic gains. As New Delhi navigates the complex global landscape, it will have to rethink strategic autonomy, economic security and regional stability. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)