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Former US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster on Thursday said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is increasingly positioning itself as a "civilisational power" seeking a larger and more assertive role in global affairs.
Speaking at the Hudson Institute's The New India Conference, Juster linked this evolving worldview to a broader transformation in India's foreign policy since 2014. "A final important factor in the new orientation of India's foreign policy was the election of Prime Minister Modi in 2014," he said. Juster noted that externally, Modi has projected "greater self-confidence" in engaging countries across regions, expanding India's diplomatic outreach and strategic purpose. "Externally, Modi has increasingly projected greater self-confidence in reaching out to a wide swath of countries throughout the world, expanding the scope of India's foreign policy and its sense of purpose in engaging others," the former envoy said. "Under Prime Minister Modi, India sees itself as a civilisational power that wants to play an increasingly significant role in world affairs and the international community," he further stated. According to Juster, India's foreign policy under the current leadership reflects a balance between strategic autonomy and global engagement, particularly in the context of US-China competition. "India shares a common interest with middle powers in wanting to avoid letting the US-China competition weaken its strategic autonomy and freedom of action," Juster said, adding that despite tensions with China, New Delhi continues to tilt towards closer engagement with the United States. He also highlighted India's long-term ambition of becoming a developed nation by 2047, as well as its growing role in global governance platforms, including India's increasing influence as a regular observer at G7 summits and its prominent role during its 2023 presidency of the G20. Juster added that India has sought to position itself as "the global voice or the voice for the global South," reflecting its broader aspiration to shape international discourse on development and governance. "Under Prime Minister Modi, India has declared the ambitious goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047, and has become a regular and influential observer for over a decade at the G7 summits and made a big splash in 2023 as the chair of the G20 summit, in which it also made clear it wants to be the global voice or the voice for the global South," he added. (ANI)
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