Nehru’s Non-Alignment To Modi’s Multi-Alignment: How India Rewrote Its Foreign Policy Playbook

India just wrapped up a groundbreaking Quad Leaders' Summit in New Delhi, immediately followed by high-level BRICS+ dialogues, solidifying its distinctive "multi-alignment" foreign policy. This strategic tightrope walk, pivoting sharply from Nehruvian non-alignment, demonstrates India's resolve to actively shape, rather than merely respond to, a multipolar world by engaging all major power blocs simultaneously. This pivot is not merely rhetorical; it's tangible, as evidenced by recent I2U2 initiatives in renewable energy and the accelerating India-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations. While Washington views India as a critical Indo-Pacific partner against Chinese assertiveness, New Delhi concurrently champions the Global South agenda within BRICS+, resisting exclusive alliances. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has consistently articulated this pursuit of strategic autonomy through diverse partnerships, allowing India to leverage relationships without subordination. The upcoming G7+ outreach discussions, where India is expected to play a central role, will further test its capacity to balance competing interests. Watch for continued defense co-production agreements with the US and European partners, alongside sustained energy ties with Russia, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi administration calibrates its influence across divergent geopolitical axes.