External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, said that India — with its expanding interests, wider global exposure, and a growing network of partners — must constantly adapt and re-adapt its strategies to navigate an increasingly complex international environment. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi.

Two Major Conflicts, Multiple Equities

Jaishankar pointed to the two major ongoing conflicts — in the Gulf and in Ukraine — as illustrations of the strategic tightrope India must walk. “In each case, India has good ties with all the parties involved. Forging an approach is therefore not easy,” he said. He acknowledged that balancing these competing relationships is a “legitimate subject of conversation.”

The minister also flagged the weaponisation of the global economy, rising tariff volatility, and increased dumping in third markets as fresh pressure points requiring strategic responses. “How could that be best countered? Another subject for discussion,” he remarked, pointing to the heightened risks emerging from intensified geopolitical competition with “less restraint.”

Nuance Over Binary Positions

Jaishankar was emphatic that India's growing global footprint demands a more sophisticated diplomatic posture. “Often, the answers are in optimising strategy and responses rather than taking black-and-white positions,” he said. He stressed that diplomacy is “very much an exercise in nuance” and that India must not merely replicate foreign frameworks but develop its own distinctive approach.

“We can draw lessons from the experiences of others, but ultimately the fact is that we are unique. It is therefore all the more important for us to have those debates amongst ourselves,” he added, flagging ICWA's potential role in shaping that intellectual ecosystem.

India's Rising Global Role and ICWA's Mandate

Highlighting India's expanding international engagement, Jaishankar said the country today interacts with a “much wider range of countries and regions,” with interests that have become “increasingly global.” He noted that expectations of India have risen correspondingly, including on issues concerning the Global South.

He argued that as India's global role grows, its intellectual engagement with international affairs must keep pace. “While much of the established discourse on international relations has been shaped by concepts and experiences developed elsewhere, a rising India must increasingly bring its own history, experience, interests, concepts, and even terminology to the way it approaches the world,” he said.

Jaishankar noted that ICWA, established as an institution of national importance by the Indian parliament, has a critical part to play in this endeavour — by encouraging informed debate from an Indian perspective and contributing to a more confident articulation of India's worldview.

Marking 25 Years of ICWA

The minister recalled that ICWA's 25th anniversary is not just a moment to reflect on the institution's journey but also to chart the role it must play going forward. He underscored that as India rises as a global power, ICWA must “play an active part in the debates that always accompany the rise of any power.”

With India's foreign policy increasingly tested by simultaneous pressures across geographies and domains, Jaishankar's address signals that New Delhi's strategic community is being called upon to think harder, faster, and more originally.