India’s transition from rule-taker to rule-maker: aspirations and challenges

Abstract

India is increasingly shifting from being a passive “rule-taker” to an assertive “rule-maker” in global governance, driven by its rising economic and military capabilities and its growing role in shaping international norms leading to peace, justice, and strong governance at the global level. This transformation is marked by strategic autonomy and multi-aligned foreign policy undertaken by India, which allows it to engage with diverse partners, including Western powers and emerging economies, while retaining independent decision-making to balance its developmental priorities and goals. India’s participation in forums such as BRICS reflects its commitment to multilateralism and reforming global institutions to better represent a multipolar world and build inclusive societies. Simultaneously, its engagement with the major powers such as the US, Japan, and Australia through the QUAD highlights efforts to strategically counterbalance the Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region, further strengthening its geopolitical clout. However, India’s global ambitions are tempered by internal challenges, including economic inequality, limited institutional capacity, regional tensions, democratic backsliding, religious populism, and arbitrary practices, which restrict its growth. In this context, the authors aim to focus on Indian foreign policy and its role in strengthening multilateral institutions, enhancing regional stability, and promoting economic growth internationally, as well as how it will influence the trajectory of global governance in the 21st century, for which it needs to align its internal functioning in accordance with the objectives of its foreign policy. India's ability to influence global governance will depend on how effectively it can balance these competing pressures at the domestic and international levels. Its success will define its future and shape the evolving international order, which is crucial in achieving global peace, security and a rule-based legal order in the current fragmented international order through global partnerships and reducing inequalities within its internal structures.