GenZ Desk
New Delhi: At a razor-sharp panel discussion on the release of Indian strategic thinker C. Rajamohan’s latest book “India and the Rebalancing of Asia (2026)”, India’s strategic establishment delivered a blunt warning: the global order is fragmenting, the United States is uncertain, China is relentless, and India must think a decade ahead—or risk strategic irrelevance.
C. Rajamohan, on Wednesday hailed by co-panelist Lt General (Retired) Raj Shukla as “a thinker who writes a decade, if not two, ahead of his time,” framed the debate around India’s long-term strategic posture in an era of tectonic geopolitical churn. Shyam Saran, former Foreign Secretary praised the title and explained India’s strategic choices since 1947. The title is published by IISS Adelphi book.
The America’s view of balance of power dosn’t work for India, C. Rajamohan stated in the panel, organised by New Delhi based think tank Council for Strategic and Defense Research.
Former Ambassador to the United States, Arun K Singh, delivered a hard-hitting intervention: “US policy on China is uncertain—Washington still doesn’t fully know how to deal with Beijing; from Clinton’s attempt to make China a partner to Biden’s ‘de-risking’ without decoupling, the strategy has shifted but not settled.”
Singh underscored that India-US defence ties would have been unthinkable without the landmark India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement, adding pointedly: “Do more with the US, but never become security-dependent on the US.”
In a striking assessment of America’s global posture, Singh remarked: “We are no longer hearing talk of salami-slicing in Taiwan or the South China Sea—the US will no longer strictly follow a rules-based international order; it is increasingly about might.” He added that American technology giants now recognise that China “remains firmly in charge,” even as US companies have invested over $600 billion in China, while firms like Google have backed dozens of Indian ventures.
General Shukla shifted the focus to India’s internal deficits: “If we are serious about 2047, we must practise big thinking—and that is not being done adequately.” Calling India a “dark horse in AI,” he contrasted US billion-dollar AI investments with India’s modest allocations and warned that China is adding massive electricity capacity daily to power its technological surge.
On the military front, Shukla was unequivocal: “Partnerships cannot be built on sentiments—India’s security calculus must look beyond the LAC and the LOC.” He called for leveraging fourth-generation technologies, citing how AI is being deployed effectively in Ukraine and arguing that India must replicate such capabilities through indigenous “AI-enabled command systems” and credible deterrence by denial.
Happymon Jacob, founding director of CSDR offered a historical critique: “Since 1947, India’s grand strategy has had a landlocked mindset despite possessing a maritime identity—there is a dual strategic personality that remains unresolved.” He argued that India’s intelligence and defence posture was designed to “play the game in the periphery, not along the LAC,” even as China seeks a unipolar Asia.
The discussion repeatedly circled back to the widening gap between China’s $20-trillion-plus economy and India’s $4-trillion trajectory, the contest for leadership of the Global South, and the mounting climate and technology challenges that will define Asian power balances.
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