The panel explored India’s diplomatic shift from non-alignment to a more flexible, issue-based multi-alignment strategy, allowing the country to maintain strong ties with major power blocs such as the U.S., China, and Russia while safeguarding its national interests
The King’s Geopolitics Forum recently hosted a thought-provoking panel discussion titled “Multi-Alignment: India’s New Plan”, bringing together leading experts to examine India’s evolving foreign policy in an increasingly multipolar world.
The event featured Shehla Hasan, Director and Head of the UK Confederation of Indian Industry; Dr. Amit Mukherjee, Senior Lecturer at King’s India Institute; and Pratik Dattani, Economist and Managing Director at ECA. The discussion was chaired by Ishan Jasuja, a master’s student in International Political Economy at King’s College London and a research fellow at The Sixteenth Council.
The panel explored India’s diplomatic shift from non-alignment to a more flexible, issue-based multi-alignment strategy, allowing the country to maintain strong ties with major power blocs such as the U.S., China, and Russia while safeguarding its national interests. Discussions emphasized how the global order is undergoing a transformation, with emerging markets like India playing an increasingly influential role in shaping global policy. The speakers also examined India’s economic trajectory, its growing private sector engagement, and its participation in global trade agreements that could bolster its status in high-value industries such as artificial intelligence, space technology, and digital infrastructure.
Security challenges were another key focus, with panelists addressing India’s positioning in the Indo-Pacific, ongoing tensions with China, and the country’s broader regional security imperatives, including its role in conflicts like the war in Ukraine. The audience engaged actively during the Q&A session, raising critical questions about India’s relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, its expanding military capabilities, strategies to counter extremism in South Asia, and the impact of economic challenges such as income inequality and limited purchasing power.
The event concluded with a networking session where attendees and panelists continued discussions on the sidelines. It marked the final gathering of the King’s Geopolitics Forum, a student-led initiative founded and led by its President, Miles Isaacs, a philosophy undergraduate at King’s College London. The forum has successfully provided a platform for in-depth conversations on global affairs, with this session further underscoring India’s growing influence on the world stage.
