India's diplomacy criticized for selectivity

India’s foreign policy is facing a sharper critique in 2026: analysts say New Delhi’s diplomacy looks increasingly selective, and increasingly tied to domestic Hindu-nationalist politics. (carnegieendowment.org) (chathamhouse.org) A March 11 paper from the Carnegie Endowment said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has blurred domestic mobilization and international diplomacy, reshaping “India’s global behavior” through personalized leadership and nationalism. (carnegieendowment.org) Carnegie’s Sandra Destradi wrote that the Bharatiya Janata Party defines India’s “true people” primarily through the Hindu majority, with minorities, especially Muslims, pushed outside that political frame. (carnegieendowment.org) That argument has gained traction as India tries to hold together its “multi-aligned” foreign policy, which aims to keep strong ties with the United States, Europe, Russia, the Quad and parts of the Global South at the same time. (iiss.org) The strain is visible in the record Chatham House laid out in January: a four-day conflict with Pakistan in May 2025, a downturn in India-United States relations, 50% U.S. tariffs over Russian crude purchases, and worsening ties with Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina fled to India in 2024. (chathamhouse.org) The same Chatham House assessment said New Delhi is now more exposed because foreign policy setbacks are harder to offset with domestic political wins, especially with state elections and trade pressure colliding in 2026. (chathamhouse.org) A second line of criticism came on March 16, when India’s Ministry of External Affairs rejected the 2026 report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and called it a “distorted and selective picture” of the country. (fsi.mea.gov.in) That U.S. commission had recommended designating India a “country of particular concern,” urged targeted sanctions against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and India’s external intelligence agency, and said Washington should weigh religious-freedom concerns in trade and security ties. (clarityupsc.com) Indian officials said the commission relied on questionable sources and ideological narratives, and argued that India’s constitution protects religious freedom and that outside bodies should not intrude into domestic matters. (fsi.mea.gov.in) (clarityupsc.com) The practical risk for India is not a single report or a single essay. It is that trade talks with the European Union, security ties with Washington, and India’s claim to speak for a broader Global South all depend on a reputation for consistency that critics say is getting harder to defend. (chathamhouse.org) (iiss.org) For now, the debate is less about whether India is active abroad than about the terms of that activism: strategic autonomy on paper, but a foreign policy that critics say is increasingly filtered through domestic politics at home. (carnegieendowment.org)