Non-alignment to multi-alignment: Shaping India's Eurasian outlook through the SCO
Author(s): Meena
Abstract: India’s foreign policy has undergone a significant transformation from the normative ideology of Cold War non-alignment to a pragmatic strategy of multi-alignment in the contemporary multipolar international system. This evolution reflects India’s efforts to preserve strategic autonomy while engaging simultaneously with multiple power centres. This paper examines how India’s engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has become a key pillar of its Eurasian outlook within this broader multi-alignment framework. By situating India’s SCO membership within theoretical debates on strategic autonomy, hedging, and multipolarity, the paper analyses the organisation’s role in advancing India’s interests in security cooperation, regional connectivity, and economic engagement with Eurasia, particularly Central Asia. It also critically assesses the structural and political constraints India faces within the SCO, including power asymmetries dominated by China and Russia, persistent India-Pakistan rivalry, and limitations in connectivity and institutional effectiveness. The paper argues that while the SCO does not fundamentally reshape Eurasian geopolitics in India’s favour, it remains a strategically valuable platform for diplomatic engagement, signalling, and limited cooperation consistent with India’s multi-aligned foreign policy trajectory.
Meena. Non-alignment to multi-alignment: Shaping India's Eurasian outlook through the SCO. Int J Political Sci Governance 2025;7(12):382-386. DOI: 10.33545/26646021.2025.v7.i12e.820
