There are those in India who may see all these developments as the fulfilment of the country’s long-held desire for a multipolar world order. However, it is more likely that realpolitik played a role—the US and its allies’ desire to court countries in the Global South in an era of US-China peer competition. Similarly, the signal to China was clear—both from the deepening India-US partnership, symbolised by a bilateral between PM Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden within three months, and through the announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. The recently concluded G20 summit in Delhi demonstrated India’s rising…