How New Delhi is re-casting itself as a global partner across diplomacy, tech & Defence

The developments between 1 and 8 November 2025 present a concentrated snapshot of how New Delhi is thinking, moving, and working across geographies, technologies, and relationships — while balancing adversaries, protecting domestic growth, and signalling global responsibility.

From relief flights to Afghanistan, rare-earth alliances to multi-domain war games, India is operating on multiple fronts at once — quietly, methodically, and without fanfare. If the world is shifting from bipolar to multipolar, India is positioning itself as a serious "third pole", as suggested by former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

Humanitarian diplomacy: A global responder in Afghanistan

When a powerful earthquake struck northern Afghanistan on 3 November, Bharat was among the first nations to dispatch humanitarian aid. Medical supplies, tents, food grains, and relief equipment were airlifted within 24 hours—a move that will foster deeper engagement with the Afghan people, while engaging with the current administration in Kabul.

This rapid response reaffirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement days earlier in Nava Raipur, Chhattisgarh, that India has always been the first responder to global crises. More than a symbolic gesture, the Afghan aid effort underscored Bharat's intent to project compassion as a tool of diplomacy — asserting soft power in a region contested by Global powers while upholding a values-driven global image.

Strategic engagements: From West Asia to the Indo-Pacific

New Delhi's diplomatic week extended from Kabul to Tel Aviv. On 4 November, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reaffirmed India's support for the Gaza peace plan, during a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Moshe Sa'ar, while calling for a "global zero-tolerance approach to terrorism," striking a delicate balance that addresses the concerns of the global muslim ummah and New Delhi's security needs.

The next day, India and Israel signed a landmark pact covering defence cooperation, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. This twin-track approach, which advocates for peace while expanding strategic ties, typifies New Delhi's balancing diplomacy.

The Israel agreement also bolsters India's tech-security architecture, reflecting how Bharat increasingly integrates its foreign policy with future-tech objectives.

At the same time, President Droupadi Murmu's planned Africa outreach, which includes visits to Angola and Botswana later in November, highlights India's widening footprint in the Global South.

From energy and mining to digital partnerships and wildlife conservation, the Africa agenda reflects long-term thinking: India is building enduring bridges beyond traditional Western and Asian partners, recognising Africa as a future economic and strategic hub.

Securing the future: Rare earths and technology sovereignty

In the same period, the Washington-based online magazine The Diplomat noted that "India could soon emerge as the third pillar – alongside the United States and Japan – of a democratic rare-earth network," following a breakthrough in China–US trade talks that opened up space for diversification.

Bharat has been courting partners from Australia to Africa to secure access to critical minerals needed for semiconductors, batteries, and green technologies. This multi-directional diplomacy, engaging both China and Western blocs (for tech alliances), reveals New Delhi's nuanced approach: competing and cooperating simultaneously.

In geopolitical terms, rare-earth independence is equivalent to energy independence in the 20th century. By building capacity and partnerships, New Delhi is ensuring that its next-generation growth is not hostage to global supply chain disruptions- a move that places it firmly within the global high-tech league.

Economic diplomacy: Confidence from global investors

While global markets remained jittery amid trade tensions, foreign holdings in Indian government bonds hit new highs in early November — the strongest monthly inflow of FY 2025-26.

This surge, coming despite rising geopolitical risk, is a strong endorsement of Bharat's macroeconomic resilience. The inflows will help finance infrastructure, defence, and manufacturing, while signalling to the world that Bharat remains a safe, attractive investment destination.

Simultaneously, the manufacturing sector witnessed a structural boost as Toyota and Honda announced $11 billion in new investments, pivoting production away from China and designating Bharat as their global export hub.

This "China + 1" move validates years of reforms aimed at making Bharat a global manufacturing alternative. It also demonstrates that India is successfully converting geopolitical realignments into economic opportunity, using global uncertainty to attract long-term capital and technology.

Defence preparedness: Readiness and realignment

According to open source news, on the military front, India conducted one of its largest multi-domain war games named "Trishul", Post-Sindoor, involving 25 warships, over 40 combat aircraft, and 40,000 troops across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and the Arabian Sea.

The exercise was a clear signal of operational readiness and joint-force integration, spanning amphibious warfare, air dominance, and network-centric operations. Conducted amid heightened tensions in the Indo-Pacific, it underlined Bharat's strategic message: peace through preparedness.

Just days later, India signed a deal with General Electric (US) for jet engines to power the indigenous HAL Tejas Mk-1A fleet. Striking such a major defence deal in the midst of US trade tensions is emblematic of New Delhi's mature diplomacy.

The leadership's message is clear: India will partner where its strategic and industrial interests align, regardless of external pressures.

Strategic balancing: The "Third Pole" of global power

Former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla concisely expressed this philosophy during his address at the Pune International Centre (PIC) on 3 November, where he described India as the "indispensable third pole" in an emerging multipolar world order.

Which means Bharat must continue to retain strategic autonomy, cooperating with all major powers while being beholden to none. This year alone, Bharat has quietly engaged with diverse players, from Washington to Beijing, from Tel Aviv to Kabul, even as global polarisation deepens.

It also reflects the deeper strategic consistency of New Delhi's diplomacy: a non-bloc identity, guided by issue-based alignments and long-term national interests.

An unfolding geoeconomic doctrine

The past ten days offered a snapshot of how Bharat's silent diplomacy operates: engaging across political divides, in multiple domains, spanning defence, technology, trade, and humanitarian response. All this in a multi-temporal context, balancing immediate needs with long-term goals.

Bharat's partnerships with Israel for AI and cyber, with Japan and the US for manufacturing and rare-earth elements, and with Africa for energy and minerals, are all interconnected strands of the same strategy: building resilience and relevance.

Even as Bharat competes with China for influence in its neighbourhood and cooperates in global trade frameworks, it continues to pursue a pragmatic equilibrium- walking a diplomatic tightrope that requires constant calibration but yields strategic dividends.

The most telling aspect of Bhart's actions during this period is the tone of its leadership. The government's responses, from swift humanitarian aid to calculated defence deals, show a decisive but unprovocative posture. In doing so, it reinforced the principle that strategic maturity lies in balance, not bravado.

Ten days, ten years of discipline

The first week of November 2025 is a microcosm of Bharat's broader foreign policy evolution. It showed a nation confident in its identity, agile in its diplomacy, and pragmatic in its ambitions. By responding to crises with compassion, deepening partnerships with purpose, investing in technology and defence, and welcoming economic integration, India reaffirmed its image as a responsible, reliable, and resilient power.

These ten days were not anomalies — they were a window into a decade's quiet transformation. Through patient, deliberate engagement, Bharat is carving out a place not just as a significant global power but as a stabiliser — balancing domestic growth with international responsibility.

(The author is Founder of My Startup TV)