



Mint Quick Edit | Republic Day calls for reflection: This year, let’s focus on how we engage the world
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. This Republic Day, we should reflect on India’s embrace of the world.
Amid all the convulsions of globalization, we have cause for optimism over India’s trade prospects. A deal with the EU looks imminent, while the US has signalled it may not just relieve us of its punitive tariff for buying Russian oil, but go ahead with a long-delayed trade pact.
The geopolitical context is peculiar to say the least. The US has all but turned its back on a rules-based world order.
The Pentagon, in its National Defence Strategy released on Friday, classifies it as one of the “cloud-castle abstractions" that have wasted US military dominance. In the Indo-Pacific, it aims for a balance of power that would let the US, China and others in the region “enjoy a decent peace." The irony is how weak the US has begun to look as a republic under its current leader, who seems to wield power with few checks and balances.
At such a fraught time, India must not only assert its strategic autonomy globally, but reaffirm its commitment to a republican form of governance. The US may be losing its long cherished common-sense values, but we remember the Raj and have resolved never to be subjects of a crown.
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