International Relations under Xi Jinping's New Era: India's Strategic Options in the Indo-Pacific

In contemporary international relations, Indo-Pacific is a principal zone of strategic competition. In Xi Jinping’s New Era, China is transforming the dynamics of regional geopolitics. In this contest, India holds a pivotal position as an emerging power and a cautious middle power balancing strategic imperatives. Thus, this paper applies Complex Interdependence Theory (CIT) to dissect strategic options available for India in the Indo-Pacific. CIT posits that in international politics, there are various means to interact, there is a lack of issue hierarchy, and there is a limited role of military force. This argument provides a foundation to analyse India’s competing priorities. India’s relations in the security domain are visible through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), and it maintains economic interdependence with China. As a middle power, India’s strategy includes hedging, balancing, and diversification. India wants to avoid antagonising the United States and China and prioritises strategic autonomy. This would uplift India’s growing function as a norm-shaper and institutional broker in the changing Indo-Pacific.