Description
This paper examines how the socio-political condition of risingness—the notion that a rising power should play a more active role in world politics—shapes India’s responses to ongoing global uncertainties. Prompted by this condition, yet still bound by its long-held tradition of non-alignment, India responds in innovative ways. The paper argues that India’s foreign policy discourse frames uncertainty as a problem requiring solutions. In line with its increasing right-wing Hindu nationalist tilt, these solutions are sought from Hindu traditions. Climate change, for example, is presented as addressable through insights from ancient Vedic literature. Geopolitical conflicts, such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, are considered resolvable through the Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (roughly translated as “the world is one family”). Such framings were also prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, where images of world leaders folding their hands in a gesture resembling namaste were portrayed as a unique Indian solution to curb virus spread. Building on this framework, the paper explores how driven by the condition of risingness and drawing from Hindu traditions, India seeks to redefine its identity from a non-aligned bystander to a problem-solver that has solutions for a world marred by uncertainty.
