Countries like India able to chart their own course; not always agree with US-China: Former UK PM Rishi Sunak

Speaking during a panel discussion titled "The End of Predictability" at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026 in the national capital, Sunak said the world was witnessing a shift away from the multilateral, rules-based framework that had shaped the global economy, creating new uncertainties and risks.

"We all grew up investing in, operating in a multilateral rules-based framework, largely enforced by US President Trump is not a cause for that; he's a symptom of that, and the world that we're in now is one where we don't quite know what we've settled down to, and that creates an enormous amount of geopolitical uncertainty and indeed danger," Sunak said.

He pointed to China's emergence as a peer competitor to the United States across multiple strategic domains, describing it as a significant new feature of the global economy.

"So, China is a peer competitor for the US across economic, military, and technological domains. That is a new feature of the world economy," he said.

Highlighting the growing ability of countries such as India and those in the Gulf to pursue independent approaches, Sunak said they would increasingly make decisions based on their own interests rather than necessarily aligning with Washington or Beijing.

"Countries like India, like the Gulf, now are able to chart their own course. They're not going to always agree with the US or China. They're going to do what they want, and that's a new feature," the former UK Prime Minister said.

Sunak also expressed concern over the global security environment, citing the increasing number of armed conflicts and the implications for international stability.

"And I think it's no coincidence that right now there are more armed conflicts happening than at any point since World War II. 61 different state-based armed conflicts around the world. Now I look at that, and I'm worried," he said.

"I think President Trump probably looks at that and thinks 61 opportunities to win the Nobel Peace Prize," he added.

Sunak further referred to remarks by the US President's deputy chief of staff on the changing international environment, saying they reflected a world increasingly shaped by power and strategic strength.

"But his deputy chief of staff said something instructive about the environment, and he said we are living in a world that is governed by force, that is governed by strength, that is governed by power," Sunak said.

While describing this assessment as somewhat extreme, Sunak stressed that hard power was becoming increasingly important and that countries were recognising the close links between economic security, national security and technological capabilities.

"Now I think that kind of Puseyian worldview is probably a little bit extreme. It's not that bad, but we are certainly living in an environment where hard power matters, and states have realised that their economic security is indivisible from their national security and technological strength, which is creating a world I think of as unreachability. What we are talking about is a cocktail of risks. To think of it in those terms, there," he noted.

The panel discussion, "The End of Predictability", examined the nature of leadership in an era when uncertainty, fragmentation and disruption have become defining features of the global economy.

The session also featured Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, and Jonathan Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone.

The Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026 is being held in New Delhi from October 13 to October 15 under the theme "A World in Play: Defining the New Levers of Power". (ANI)