Introduction: India’s Imperative for Thought Leadership in a Fractured World

Not until now has the world experienced such rapid succession of events whose geopolitical consequences are as far and wide. As we write this, the global order continues to be in a precarious state, with two active wars dragging on for years now and potential hotspots in different parts of the world suffering greater uncertainty.

In many ways, the world is coming full circle, with the return of great-power rivalry, the resurgence of protectionism, and the weaponisation of economic interdependence creating a volatile ecosystem wherein the very foundations of the post-War multilateral framework are being shaken to their core. What we need today is resolute and sustained thought leadership. It is against this backdrop that Observer Research Foundation convened the 7^th India Think Tank Forum 2025 in February this year, under the theme, “Shaping a Resilient Global Order”.

This compendium builds on the Forum and has two aims: to bridge the regional and linguistic divide by bringing together the voices of India’s vast think thank community, and to provide a coherent pitch to the world on ideas that matter to India’s growth and foreign policy. The compendium carries thematically diverse essays inspired by the panel discussions during the Forum. We invited 20 speakers from across the 10 panel discussions conducted over two days of the Forum to reflect on three trends on which think tanks should focus on, and three issues that emerged from the panel discussion in which they spoke. The essays carry perspectives from think tank leaders, scholars, former diplomats, and analysts, all of whom engage with issues of India’s foreign policy and evolving geopolitics, the country’s development story, and its growing normative role in the international system.

It is our hope that this collection of essays captures the essence of the Forum, at the heart of which lay the question: How can India—and indeed the Global South—constructively participate in the reimagining of global governance, security, and cooperation, without succumbing to the consequences of an international system that is fraying at the seams?

The Forum opened with a Curtain Raiser Plenary that trained the spotlight on the multiple crises confronting the global community. Three key vectors emerged: the intensifying United States-China rivalry and its implications for alliances and trade; the systemic disruption from prolonged conflicts in Ukraine, West Asia, and other vulnerable theatres; and the strategic uncertainties for India, South Asia, and the broader Global South as a result of such fragmented reality. Setting the tone for the entire event, the curtain-raiser explored how interests can be safeguarded against the backdrop of the need for the Global South, especially countries like India, to balance economic growth and security amidst shifting alliances, economic pressures, and regional instability. As the old order comes under strain, new actors like India are poised to usher alternative norms and priorities in the global discourse.

The first thematic panel on ‘Global Conflict, Stability, and Human Development’ focused on internal conflicts and fragile states, emphasising how the crisis of global governance often begins within national boundaries. The persistence of ethnonationalist and religious conflicts, particularly in the Global South, signals both a failure of governance and a gap in peacebuilding frameworks. The discussion recognised India’s contributions to peacekeeping and highlighted the growing need to reform peacebuilding mechanisms to be more inclusive—particularly in advancing women’s agency in conflict resolution. India’s historical contributions to UN peacekeeping, with New Delhi playing an important role in stabilising conflicts, were a relevant element in the examination of India’s strengths. The panel raised important questions in the context of augmenting India’s role in the domain through a proactive, strategic approach that incorporates development assistance, civil society participation, and sustainable reconciliation mechanisms.

The panel on ‘Geoeconomics and the Future of Growth’ was devoted to the current geoeconomic turmoil, especially in an era where economic priorities often trump traditional diplomacy. The speakers analysed how trade, technology, and finance intersect with power, especially in the context of the return to the US presidency of Donald Trump, signalling an inflection point for global trade policy. At a time when efforts to usher a normalisation of protectionism and transactional diplomacy may be forging ahead, India, the panel argued, must pursue deeper regional economic linkages while protecting itself against volatile externalities. India’s engagement with trade frameworks like the IPEF, RCEP, or Quad, was cited as a component of a strategy that seeks to balance pragmatism and ambition. The vulnerabilities facing global supply chains are expected to enforce trade diversification, where countries are likely to shape frameworks to mitigate geoeconomic risks and build institutional resilience.

The panel that followed discussed ‘Critical and Emerging Technologies’ from the perspectives of power, access, and equity. Technology has become a fundamental driver of modern life, with states increasingly leveraging critical and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and blockchain to enhance statecraft and promote development. The ability to innovate and effectively utilise these technologies has become a crucial factor in determining national power and global influence. The panel unpacked how the monopolisation of tech ecosystems by a few advanced economies could exacerbate the digital divide and erode democratic accountability. In this context, what are India’s strategic choices in this space—from its advocacy of ethical AI to its calls for an inclusive digital governance regime? Finally, the panel delved into how the Global South can challenge technological gatekeeping by advancing collaborative, open-access innovation models and building domestic capacity in critical technologies.

Building upon the preceding session, the panel, ‘Digital Transformation: Unlocking Potential for Development’, examined the role of digital technologies in accelerating inclusive development and the question of unequal access to these innovative tools. India’s model of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) was held up as a blueprint for the Global South—a means to catapult legacy systems and deliver efficient, transparent services to the people. How India’s DPI experience—particularly in fintech, health tech, and data governance—can be adapted by other developing countries was at the centre of discussions. Additionally, central to this transformation is the need to promote gender inclusivity, secure digital rights, and ensure that technological advancement is embedded within sustainable development frameworks. Finally, panellists weighed in on the importance of building resilient data ecosystems, with the state as an enabler rather than a monopoliser of digital capital.

Perhaps very few challenges are as urgent as the global energy transition, which is transforming the geopolitical and economic landscape and with it carries massive implications for developing nations. The transition from hydrocarbons to renewables has introduced new complexities, including securing critical minerals and navigating the evolving alliances between energy-exporting and -importing nations. As the world increasingly embraces renewable energy, India has emerged as a leader in global energy transition, exemplified by its role in initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The panel, ‘Climate and Energy Security in a Globalised World’, explored the complex dynamics between global ambition and local feasibility. India’s leadership was noted as both symbolic and substantive. Interventions on these topics dwelled on how India can sustain and expand its leadership by advocating equitable financing mechanisms, forming innovative partnerships, and ensuring climate justice in global energy architectures.

Barriers to sustainable development are widening gradually. Indeed, the multiple challenges of energy transition, climate financing gaps, biodiversity loss, flailing multilateral agencies, inequity, and misgovernance have laid bare the vulnerabilities of the Global South. In this sense, India’s role as a prominent partner for developing countries cannot be ignored. The panel, ‘India and the Global South: Championing Equitable Development’, assessed India’s recent activism in shaping the agenda—looking at a range of activities from the Voice of the Global South Summit to New Delhi’s support for inclusive trade and financial mechanisms. As multilateral institutions falter, there is growing appetite for India to act as an enabler and norm entrepreneur. The focus on India’s development partnerships in sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, and education formed critical interventions. Questions about how India can scale up South-South cooperation through knowledge sharing, capacity building, and technical diplomacy framed the discussions. Attention was paid to India’s vaccine diplomacy and DPI exports as templates of low-cost, high-impact interventions for development. 

The emergence of the Indo-Pacific as a strategic theatre based on a democratic rules-based order has altered the global geopolitical landscape. While China’s heft in the region has posed a formidable security challenge for like-minded countries that continue to advocate for a free and open Indo-Pacific, its aggressive naval advances in the Indo-Pacific are impinging on the regional maritime security environment, necessitating efforts to foster stability in the regional order. The session, ‘The Indo-Pacific Nexus: Geopolitics, Security and Cooperation’, reaffirmed the position of the region as a geopolitical nerve centre of geopolitics, trade and security, emphasising regional security architectures, minilateralism, and the role of the Quad. Amidst the spectrum of convergences and divergences in the region, reflections on India’s strategic tightrope walk—maintaining autonomy while deepening regional engagement, and preserving openness without succumbing to bloc politics—remained at the centre stage of the discussions.

The United Nations-led multilateral framework is facing a credibility crisis. Multilateral institutions have struggled to address critical challenges such as inter-state conflicts, climate change, pandemics, and debt crises. This failure is exacerbated by the lack of representation for emerging economies in key institutions like the UN Security Council, as well as the crisis within the World Trade Organization, which has been unable to establish a more equitable global trading system for the Global South. As the global governance structure falters amidst shifting geopolitical realities, India has championed the concept of ‘reformed multilateralism’, aiming to reshape institutions to be more effective, inclusive, and responsive to global needs. Amidst this churn, the discussions underscored India’s call for “reformed multilateralism” and its components of equity, responsiveness to crises, and institutional agility. 

Finally, the discussions explored the role that think tanks play in societies by generating ideas, shaping policy debates, and offering solutions to critical challenges. In today’s digital age, with the constant influx of information, it is equally important to effectively disseminate and present these ideas to a wider audience. The ability to communicate solutions in a clear and engaging manner is a pillar of the endeavour to influence policy and decision-making. However, think tanks also face formidable challenges, particularly in securing sustainable funding while preserving intellectual integrity and independence. Balancing financial support with the freedom to produce unbiased research remains a key challenge for these organisations, as they strive to maintain their credibility and effectiveness in addressing global and national issues.

The India Think Tank Forum 2025 offered a unique opportunity to bring together voices across regions, gender, and thematic priorities from think tanks across India.  The Forum proved useful not just for discussing the pressing ideas of our time but for assessing the challenges from our collective as well as individual vantage points. As we aim to make the compendium an annual publication, it is our hope that this present volume provides a valuable direction for a roadmap for India’s thought leadership in an increasingly contested world.

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