Balancing Partnerships and Autonomy: India’s Foreign Policy in the IndoPacific (2014–2024)

This study examines the evolution of India’s foreign policy through the prism of Narendra Modi’s international visits across three consecutive terms in office (2014–2019, 2019–2024, and 2024–present). It argues that summit diplomacy under Modi has undergone a systematic transformation—from a tool of diplomatic reengagement and visibility-building to an instrument of strategic consolidation and, ultimately, global agenda-setting. Rather than treating foreign visits as symbolic or episodic events, the study conceptualises them as a core mechanism of contemporary Indian statecraft, reflecting both shifts in the global order and changes in India’s material and normative ambitions. Methodologically, the paper adopts a qualitative, comparative approach, analysing patterns of bilateral and multilateral visits across the three terms alongside their strategic, economic, and normative outcomes. Empirical evidence is drawn from official visit records, summit declarations, multilateral forum outcomes, and secondary policy literature. The analysis is grounded in three complementary analytical lenses: summit diplomacy, strategic signalling, and status-seeking behaviour, supplemented by insights from theories of strategic autonomy, hedging, soft power, and norm entrepreneurship. The findings reveal a clear phasewise evolution. The first term (2014–2019) was characterised by high-frequency diplomatic outreach aimed at overcoming inertia and rebranding India as a confident and proactive global actor. The second term (2019–2024), shaped by global disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, marked a phase of consolidation in which India deepened its engagement with multilateral institutions, demonstrated crisis leadership, and reinforced its strategic autonomy amid intensifying great-power rivalry. The third term (2024–present) reflects a maturing diplomatic posture, with international visits increasingly focused on issue-based leadership in areas such as digital governance, climate justice, development finance, and reform of global institutions, particularly on behalf of the Global South. The study concludes that Modi’s summit diplomacy represents a distinctive Indian pathway to global influence—one that combines personalised leadership with growing institutional depth. While this approach has significantly expanded India’s diplomatic space and agenda-setting capacity, its long-term effectiveness will depend on institutionalisation, domestic capacity-building, and the ability to translate normative leadership into tangible outcomes. In doing so, the paper contributes to broader debates on rising powers, leadership diplomacy, and the evolving nature of global governance in a multipolar world.