Jaishankar Says US Is Now Embracing the Strategic Autonomy India Has Long Advocated

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said the United States is increasingly following an approach to international relations that India has practiced for years, particularly by maintaining working relationships with multiple major powers at the same time. Speaking at an Asia Society event in New York on Monday alongside former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel, Jaishankar pointed to what he described as a notable change in Washington's diplomatic approach. He said the United States is now simultaneously engaging with countries and regions including China, Russia, Ukraine, Europe and other parts of Asia, a pattern that he said resembles the way India has traditionally managed its external relationships.

Jaishankar was responding to a discussion about India's ability to navigate relationships with competing global powers. Russel referred to the familiar American expression about having to "chew gum" while doing something else, using it in the context of India's foreign policy balancing act. Jaishankar turned the metaphor around, suggesting that there is now plenty of that "gum" in Washington as the United States deals with a wide range of international relationships and interests at once.

The minister argued that the change reflects a broader transformation in global diplomacy. In his view, as Washington itself manages relationships with several competing powers simultaneously, the practice of maintaining multiple strategic options is no longer something associated primarily with countries such as India.

Jaishankar also recalled an earlier period when India was sometimes encouraged to concentrate its international relationships more heavily on the United States. He said there had been expectations that New Delhi should limit its options, even though Washington itself, because of its global position, continued to maintain relationships across different parts of the world. According to Jaishankar, that distinction has become less relevant as countries increasingly pursue relationships based on their individual interests. He said nations are now more openly engaging with a wider range of partners rather than operating within rigid geopolitical camps.

The minister linked this development to the emergence of a more multipolar international system. He suggested that governments are increasingly seeking flexibility and trying to secure the most favourable outcomes available from different partnerships instead of committing themselves exclusively to one side.

His comments come as India's foreign policy continues to involve engagement with a broad range of partners, including the United States, Russia, European countries and Asian powers. Analysts have described this diversification as an effort to preserve strategic room for manoeuvre amid a more fragmented international environment. Jaishankar's remarks therefore placed the changing US approach within a larger shift in international relations, where countries are increasingly balancing partnerships and pursuing their interests across multiple geopolitical relationships rather than relying on a single strategic alignment.