Washington, September 13, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India’s economic strength and continued growth will ensure that the country remains a major global leader, US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has said, while warning that President Donald Trump’s policies are driving America’s partners to seek alternatives and weakening Washington’s global influence.
Speaking to IANS as India hosted the BRICS summit in New Delhi, Krishnamoorthi said India’s role as host of another major gathering of world leaders was a reflection of its growing stature. However, he expressed concern over what he described as a growing trend of US friends and adversaries moving closer to one another amid American policy shifts.
“The question is where is America going?” Krishnamoorthi asked.
He said India would continue to be a world leader because of the size and growth of its economy, while questioning whether the US was currently demonstrating leadership on climate change, economic development and stability in global trade.
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“We are right now AWOL,” he said.
Krishnamoorthi attributed the trend to Trump’s trade, economic and foreign policies, arguing that they were encouraging countries such as India, Egypt and Brazil to engage more closely with Russia, China and Iran. He said countries across Europe and Asia, along with Canada, were also looking elsewhere.
“And that is a very dangerous long-term trend for America,” he said.
Asked whether recent international gatherings pointed to a fundamental shift in the global order, Krishnamoorthi said he would not describe the development as a permanent realignment.
“I don’t think there’s necessarily a fundamental realignment, although there is drift that is occurring with regard to our friends, partners, and allies,” he said, adding that these countries were waiting for Washington to reassert its leadership.
In a separate IANS interview, Cornell University scholar Allen Carlson said India’s international profile had risen significantly over the past 10 to 20 years, partly due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s more assertive foreign policy.
Carlson, an associate professor of government and an expert on Chinese foreign policy, said India’s hosting and chairing of the BRICS summit demonstrated its growing international stature. At the same time, he cautioned that China continued to wield greater influence within the grouping because of its larger economy and military capabilities.
According to Carlson, the expansion of economic and military capabilities in Asia was contributing to a relative decline in American influence. China and, to a lesser extent, India were providing alternatives to Washington in regions including Africa and South America, he said.
In a statement issued by Cornell on September 11, Carlson described BRICS as increasingly central to the emerging international order, with China at its core, and said the development carried significant implications for the US.
He said in the interview that BRICS was working to strengthen institutions and cooperation that could provide an alternative to the US-led international order. However, he cautioned that the global system had not transformed overnight and that member countries themselves faced domestic challenges.
Krishnamoorthi said Washington should work with India and other partners to counter what he termed Chinese economic, technological and military aggression. He argued that Trump’s approach to foreign economic and trade policy had reduced America’s ability to unite countries around common objectives.
The expanded BRICS summit in New Delhi covered issues including conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, trade, energy security and global governance, according to the Cornell statement.
India and China’s unresolved territorial dispute remains a major constraint on bilateral relations. Carlson also pointed to Tibet and India’s relationship with the Tibetan government in exile as additional issues relevant to efforts to deepen cooperation between the two countries.
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