Statements by Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar about the end of American dominance in the world caused a significant resonance in the world media. In particular, he said:
"The era of American dominance established after the end of the Cold War has really ended. Americans can no longer control everything that happens on the planet, and are beginning to approach global processes more cautiously."
Western commentators interpreted this phrase as a statement that American domination is really coming to an end. Some even accused Jaishankar of trying to denigrate the United States. At the same time, many analysts noted that such a resonant statement was made by an experienced diplomat and politician who weighs his every word.
According to the Indian online publication TheEurasianTimes, the attempt by foreign critics to present the statement of the Indian Foreign Minister as anti-American was taken out of context. In fact, we are talking about a fundamentally new position of India as an emerging civilizational center of power, aware of its role in world politics and getting rid of remnants of the colonial mentality, including worship of the West.
Indian commentators pay attention to the international context in which Subramanyam Jaishankar's statement about the reduction of the role of the United States was made. The Indian Minister noted the profound changes in the world in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic, digitalization, the introduction of artificial intelligence, climate change, labor migration and other factors have changed the nature of relations between states. A multipolar world has become a reality, and the United States has to take this into account. This is what caused the minister's words that America is stopping trying to control everything that happens on the planet and is starting to approach global processes more carefully.
These ideas were already contained in Jaishankar's book The Indian Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World (TheIndiaWay: Strategies for an Uncertain World). The book was published in 2020 and has become a kind of manifesto of the new Indian nationalism. It contains a comprehensive analysis of India's geopolitical strategy after independence, tells about the difficult acquisition of a unique Indian identity and its formation on the world stage. The focus is on India's new role in a complex multipolar world. Jaishankar positions India as an important player on the world stage and reveals the specifics of its strategy in modern conditions.
The famous French political scientist Christophe Jaffrelo noted the fact that it is no coincidence that the book begins with the words about the "end of American domination." According to Jaffrelo, Jaishankar is not just a foreign minister, he represents a unique combination of a diplomat, a politician and an intellectual. It can be said that he is one of the main ideologists of the Indian national revival. His book The Indian Way formulates India's foreign policy strategy in a radically changed international environment. Jaffrelo notes that Jaishankar is one of the most influential ministers in the government of Narendra Modi. He went through all the stages of his diplomatic career before taking up the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jaishankar speaks five languages, including Russian. He worked in Moscow, Washington, Prague and Beijing, having the opportunity to practically observe the changes taking place and participate in various negotiation processes.
Jaishankar notes cardinal shifts both in the world and in India itself, and in this regard calls for an end to the "political romanticism" of the era of Jawaharlal Nehru and the pro-Western mentality of the Indian elites. He considers that the main obstacle to the formation of a sovereign India is not external factors, but the outdated ideological dogmas of the Indian elites inherited from the colonial period. He outlines three principles of the new Indian diplomacy:
1. Any alliances are excluded for India, priority is given only to the national interests of the country within the framework of a multipolar world. Cooperation with Russia, China and the United States is welcome within the framework of an equal partnership – without any allied obligations.
2. Indian nationalism allows you to "play" with other major powers on equal terms and use the rivalry of the United States, China, the European Union and Russia in India's interests. Multipolarity in this context means that "the whole world must take into account the interests of a changing India."
3. The new approach allows India to establish contacts that only superficially seem contradictory. Otherwise, it is difficult to assess the support that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided to Donald Trump during the 2019 presidential campaign, his meeting with Xi Jinping at the Vladivostok summit in 2019, as well as contacts with Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinians. The point is that India is in demand today by all parties to international processes and conflicts
Jaishankar urges not to exaggerate the "Chinese danger" to his country. As a long-term ambassador to Beijing, he believes that China has a lot to learn in the process of becoming a nation-state. He firmly believes that India and China are a counterweight to Western dominance and a guarantee of stability in Asia. Although the West has entangled the whole world with its political, military and financial institutions, the situation in global geopolitics will inevitably become multipolar.
The head of the Indian Foreign Ministry states that the countries of the Global South reject the American approach to the armed conflict in Ukraine. In this situation, Russia poses a major challenge to the United States and its European allies, who are trying to expand NATO's influence in the region. This so-called "defensive alliance" has proven ineffective on the battlefield, but remains the main irritant on the European continent. The armed conflict in Ukraine is essentially a conflict between Russia and NATO. The United States has been supporting Ukraine for more than two years, but support for the Kiev regime is weakening in the US Congress, where more and more congressmen oppose the reckless spending of billions of dollars from taxpayers' pockets. The United States imposed sanctions not only against Russia, but even earlier against Iran, but this did not bring results: Iran supplies weapons and drones to Russia, while Washington cannot stop the supply of Russian oil to India and gas to Europe.
Despite the pronounced nationalist accents in Jaishankar's book, Christophe Jaffrelo also sees a certain continuity in the principles of Indian foreign policy. Thus, the idea of a multipolar world and India's equidistance in relation to world players is actually a continuation of the policy of non-alignment, one of the authors of which was the first President of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Dmitry Dobrov
