External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday, 29 September told an audience in New York that the United States is today doing precisely what India has long practised — managing a wide web of relationships simultaneously through strategic autonomy. The remarks came at a high-profile event where Jaishankar was in conversation with Daniel Russel, a former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

The Core Argument

'Pretty much what people used to say about us, Washington is today practising with a great deal of gusto,' Jaishankar said, drawing a pointed parallel between India's longstanding foreign policy doctrine and the current approach of the Trump administration.

He elaborated by listing the multiple, often competing, relationships Washington is now actively managing: China, Russia, Ukraine, other parts of Asia, and Europe. 'So actually, Washington was doing what India had practised,' he said.

The 'Chewing Gum' Exchange

The moment drew particular attention for its wit. Russel had used the colloquial American expression — 'chewing gum and walking at the same time' — to describe multi-directional diplomacy when posing a question about India's strategic autonomy. Jaishankar picked up the metaphor without missing a beat.

'I think that piece of gum is in pretty big supply in Washington,' he quipped, alluding to the range of sometimes contradictory relationships the US is simultaneously pursuing. He then extended the metaphor to a broader global observation: 'Everybody is going to be chewing it.'

A Shift in the Global Order

Jaishankar used the exchange to make a substantive geopolitical point about the emerging multipolar world. He recalled a time when India was told, in effect, not to keep too many options open — to concentrate its relationship on the US alone. 'There was a time when, I would say, the narrative was, "You know we don't like you having too many options because we want ... you to focus your relationship on us,"' he said.

He noted the double standard that existed even then: the US, as a global power, quietly retained its own options. 'Today the pretence has dropped for everybody,' he said. 'Everybody is openly dealing with everybody else.'

Jaishankar framed this shift as both inevitable and clarifying. 'And that is how we are heading towards a multipolar world,' he said, adding that every country would now seek 'the best deal that they can out of a given situation from a much more sharper definition of their interest.'

Why These Remarks Matter

The comments arrive at a moment when India's foreign policy posture — long criticised in Western capitals for its refusal to align exclusively with any bloc — is increasingly being validated by the behaviour of major powers themselves. Notably, the US under President Donald Trump has pursued simultaneous and sometimes contradictory engagements with rivals and allies alike, echoing the very 'multi-alignment' framework that New Delhi has championed for decades.

This is not the first time Jaishankar has made this argument, but the New York setting — and the interlocutor being a former senior US official — gave the remarks unusual diplomatic resonance. His assertion that Washington has effectively endorsed India's worldview by adopting it signals a quiet but significant shift in how Indian diplomacy is positioning itself on the global stage.

As the world moves deeper into a multipolar era, India's early adoption of strategic autonomy may yet prove to be its most durable foreign policy asset.