As India celebrates 80 years of independence, its evolving role on the world stage is driven by economic strength, strategic leverage, and domestic reform, positioning it as a key player in shaping the future international order.
As India marks 80 years since Independence, the more telling measure of its rise is no longer size alone but influence. Kaushik Shaparia argues that India has moved beyond the stage of seeking recognition and is now shaping decisions on trade, technology, energy, talent, supply chains and development. That shift matters because the international order is becoming less predictable, with countries reassessing where they source goods, where they place capital and which partners they can trust.
India’s value, Shaparia writes, lies partly in its unusual position between advanced economies and the Global South. It can speak to both because it is still wrestling with many of the same development challenges faced by emerging markets while also building the institutional and economic heft expected of a major power. That combination, he suggests, gives India a role that is increasingly strategic rather than simply symbolic.
The economic dimension of that argument is gaining fresh backing from the India-European Union free trade agreement, which the European Commission has described as the largest trade deal ever concluded by the two sides. According to the European Commission’s trade factsheet, the pact covers a market of around 2 billion people, nearly a quarter of global GDP and is designed to cut more than 90% of tariffs. The World Economic Forum has said the agreement, concluded in January 2026, reflects a broader effort by both sides to deepen ties in the face of geopolitical uncertainty and shifting trade patterns. For India, it offers wider access to a major advanced market; for Europe, it strengthens links with one of Asia’s most important growth engines.
Shaparia’s broader point is that economic scale alone will not be enough. India’s long-term influence will depend on whether it can turn demographic advantage into productive employment, stronger manufacturing, higher skills and more innovation. He warns that the gains from growth are still unevenly spread and argues that better jobs, stronger education and improved healthcare will be essential if India is to build a genuinely inclusive economy. In that sense, the country’s domestic reform agenda and its global standing are now inseparable. The stronger India becomes at home, the more weight it carries abroad.
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