What are Six Focus areas of India’s Foreign Policy as announced by S. Jaishankar?

Context:

The world order is passing through the many uncertainties and tensions: ongoing various war and domestic conflicts like Ukraine war, Gaza conflict, Iran war, Civil war in Congo and Sudan; weaponization of trade by leading powers , disruption in global supply chains leading to energy crisis, unilateral policies by Trump administration, growing irrelevance of global institutions like UN or WTO and breakdown of rule-based order, among others.

In these turbulent times, India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar  has delineated Six Focus areas of India’s Foreign policy in coming years and even decades. He identified these focus areas while delivering an address at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on 15 September, 2026. The ICWA, established in 1943 is the premier Union government institution for study and research in foreign affairs. The ICWA is celebrating its silver jubilee in 2026, as it was declared an Institution of National Importance in 2001.

The Six Focus areas of the Indian Foreign Policy are given below:

1. Roles and Responsibility of India as an emerging power- India has emerged as the fifth largest economy in the world, which increases India’s heft in the global affairs. Now India counts more and has more influence in the world.  But this rising status has responsibility too. The India foreign policy has to take in to account this fact in the coming years.
2. Human Resource is the Unique strength of India- Every country has some unique capability. In India’s case it is her human resources. The policy consequence of this fact is that India has to support to the mobility and international flow of talent, skills and human resources. This is an era of globalized work force. Thus, Indian foreign policy has to focus in the greater mobility and welfare of the human resources.  India leads the world with 150 billion remittance in 2025-26.
3. Communication and narrative Building- India has to focus on public diplomacy in this agree of social media and AI.  The rapid technological change and reach of the media creates new challenges to foreign policy in narrative building and communication. The Indian diplomacy cannot escape from this new task of public diplomacy.
4. Priority to Global South- diplomacy may be an exercise in strategic calculations but sentiments still has important role in international affairs. India has been engaged with global South earlier called, third world, since her independence though Non-alignment. We share historical experience and memories of freedom struggle with Global South. Hence, Global South will always be a key element in India’s world outlook.
5. India as a civilizational State- in contrast to the Westphalian notion of nation state, as popularized by the west, India continues to be civilizational state, with 5000 years of unbroken history. India’s priorities and principles in foreign policy should reflects the traits of a civilizational state. As a civilizational stste, India’s ‘approach to international issues will be considered, will be sober and will be composed. When India advocates dialogue and diplomacy, when we stress that endless war must give way to an end to war, this is our particular way of thinking. Indian diplomacy will always have peace and development as its central agenda, not just as an idealistic goal, but as a sensible prescription for the world order to advance progress and prosperity.’
6. Strategic Autonomy- According to Jaishankar the independence of foreign policy is inherent in India’s DNA. During cold war, the positive connotation of the policy of non-alignment endorse the principles of independence of foreign policy. In the post-cold war era, it has taken the form of strategic autonomy. It is an outcome of history and also the natural characteristics of large nation like India. we may debate about the practice of strategic autonomy, but we cannot think of its alternative in India’s foreign policy. Our policy of strategic autonomy is naturally aligned to the multi-polar world. Thus, India’s answer to the culture of extreme condition in the world is to double down on multipolarity.

In fact, Indian foreign policy is already on the way to focus on these areas. For example, India has claimed to be mother of democracy on the basis of parliamentary practices found in the Buddhist Sanghas (Vajji Sangha) in the 6^th century BC. India has raised the slogans of Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam during the G-20 Summit (2023), Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay during AI impact Summit, (Feb 2026), and Namaste as a symbol of respect and humility durng the BRICS summit (September, 2026). India had organized three Voice of Global South Summits in 2023 and 2024 to represent heir concerns. The practice of South-South Cooperation is the integral part of India’s foreign policy since her independence, though its forms and forums have changed over the years. The credo of Strategic Autonomy is the hall mark of India’s foreign policy. Under this principle, India is successfully balancing her relationship with rival powers like the US and Russia. India’s present practice of multi-alignment is also the practical reflection of strategic autonomy.

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