{"id":314852,"date":"2025-11-28T18:52:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T18:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/314852\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T18:52:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T18:52:05","slug":"how-op-sindoor-made-india-a-major-power-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/314852\/","title":{"rendered":"How Op Sindoor made India a ‘major power’ in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Operation Sindoor<\/a>, besides other factors, has powered India<\/a> to the status of a “major power<\/a>” in Asia<\/a> in the Asia Power Index 2025 of Lowy Institute. For the first time since the index was created by the Australian institute, India\u2019s comprehensive power score has crossed the 40-point threshold, a benchmark the Lowy Institute uses to classify a \u201cmajor power\u201d. India is the only “major power” in Asia.<\/p>\n

India ranked 3 of 27 for comprehensive power, with an overall score of 40.0 out of 100, gaining 0.9 points (+2% change) in overall score in 2025. The US is ranked No. 1 while China is No. 2. The US and China are super powers in Asia with scores of 80.5 and 73.7 respectively. Japan<\/a> with a 38 score is a middle power and so is Russia with a score of 32.1. Pakistan<\/a>, ranked 16, is another middle power with a score of 14.5.<\/p>\n

As the US grapples with declining influence in Asia and China consolidates its position as a formidable competitor, India\u2019s emergence as Asia\u2019s only major power between the superpowers signals the beginning of power shift in Asian strategic landscape. Below is a detailed account of the Asia Power Index commentary on India, China and the US.
India: Emergence of a major power
India’s 2025 ascent is the culmination of steady improvement across multiple dimensions of national power. By scoring 40.0 points and ranking 3rd out of 27 countries, India enlarges the lead it secured over Japan in 2024. Although the \u201clarge capability gap with China has only widened\u201d, this year\u2019s scores underline that India is steadily building the economic and military heft required to influence Asia\u2019s balance of power.<\/p>\n

At the heart of India\u2019s improved standing is the impact of its strong economic performance. The Lowy Institute notes that India\u2019s economy \u201chas continued to grow strongly\u201d, and this growth has translated into greater geopolitical relevance through improved connectivity, technological contributions, and external leverage. India\u2019s attractiveness to global investors has surged to unprecedented heights; for the first time, it overtook China as the second-most important destination for inward investment after the United States. This shift reflects both geopolitical realignment, especially supply-chain diversification, and India\u2019s strengthening fundamentals as an investment destination.<\/p>\n

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India\u2019s military capability has also advanced, and Operation Sindoor, launched in May 2025, played a pivotal role in this perception shift. Lowy reports that \u201cexpert appraisals of its capability\u2026were likely influenced by India\u2019s performance in Operation Sindoor\u201d, adding valuable recent combat experience to India\u2019s defence profile. The operation\u2019s success has reinforced confidence in India\u2019s readiness, operational sophistication and ability to execute complex missions. Military capability gains of +2.8 points reflect this renewed confidence.Yet India\u2019s rise remains constrained by persistently weak influence networks. Its defence networks score dropped by \u22122.6 points, and although diplomatic influence improved marginally, it has not kept pace with the country\u2019s expanding resource power. The report argues that India’s \u201cmulti-alignment, strategic autonomy, and Global South\u201d diplomacy, while principled, \u201cdoes not provide an automatic pathway to rapidly expanding its strategic influence.\u201d This disconnect leads to a widening Power Gap: India\u2019s resources are rising faster than its ability to convert those resources into influence.Culturally, however, India is gaining traction. It recorded the largest increase of any measure with a +2.8 gain in cultural influence, driven by expanding travel linkages, direct-flight connectivity and its growing appeal as a tourism and education hub. Newly opened routes, such as the 2025 India\u2013Brunei direct service, symbolise India\u2019s broader integration into regional people-to-people networks.<\/p>\n

The overall story of India in 2025 is one of momentum with constraints. Its power is steadily rising, but its ambitions still exceed its reach. Operation Sindoor has strengthened India\u2019s military profile, and economic dynamism has expanded its weight, yet the challenge ahead lies in transforming raw capability into durable influence, especially when measured against China\u2019s overwhelming regional presence.
China: Consolidation amid geopolitical volatility
China, ranked second with a score of 73.7, continues to solidify its role as Asia\u2019s leading superpower behind the United States. Its 2025 gains, though modest, underscore Beijing\u2019s ability to navigate and even exploit uncertainty in the regional environment. Lowy notes that China is \u201cwell placed to withstand coercive US economic policies\u201d, owing to its vast access to global markets independent of the United States. This resilience has enabled Beijing to respond \u201crobustly and confidently\u201d to US tariffs by imposing retaliatory measures and tightening export controls on critical minerals.<\/p>\n

Diplomatically, China recorded the \u201chighest-ever influence score of any country\u201d in the history of the Index. It ranked first for both regional and global leadership indicators, supported by energetic outreach, including President Xi Jinping\u2019s high-profile diplomatic engagements, and expanding multilateral activity. Experts also observed an improvement in the quality of China\u2019s diplomatic service, reflecting Beijing\u2019s effort to portray itself as a stable, reliable partner in contrast to what many see as US unpredictability.<\/p>\n

However, China\u2019s strengths coexist with emerging vulnerabilities. While its regional selling power rose, China\u2019s \u201cbuying power\u201d, its ability to absorb exports from other Asian economies, declined. This shift highlights the limits of China\u2019s commitment to supporting neighbours facing US tariffs. Additionally, although China has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels of people-to-people connectivity, investment inflows remain depressed because of persistent uncertainty in US\u2013China economic relations. Even so, China\u2019s recovery in tourism and the introduction of new visa-free pathways for several Asian nations reinforce its steady re-opening to the world.
The United States: Still No. 1 but drifting
Despite retaining the top ranking with a score of 80.5, the United States faces a dramatic erosion of influence in the 2025 assessment. The Lowy Institute states bluntly that the Trump administration\u2019s policies \u201chave been a net negative for US power in Asia\u201d, resulting in the largest decline in comprehensive power of any country this year. Structural trends and policy choices both contribute to this downturn.<\/p>\n

The United States recorded \u201csmall declines in every resource measure\u201d, signalling weakening economic and military foundations in Asia. Although Washington maintains unmatched technological strength and strong resilience, China has steadily narrowed the gap, particularly in military capability, where the US lead has dropped to \u201cjust two-thirds of what it was in 2017\u201d. As China\u2019s maritime and air warfare capabilities grow, the US struggles to maintain its historic dominance in Asia\u2019s security architecture.<\/p>\n

Diplomatically, the US suffered a steep setback. Its foreign policy influence collapsed to eighth place, behind countries such as Vietnam. Experts surveyed by Lowy appraised Trump’s regional leadership negatively, citing a lack of focus on Asia, tariff escalations and cuts to aid and media. The US also saw a notable drop in global leadership, though the report notes this was measured before Trump\u2019s successful brokering of the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Compounding these challenges is the declining attractiveness of the US as a destination for travel and study, driven in part by restrictive visa policies. If this trend persists, it may further weaken America\u2019s soft power and long-term influence in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Operation Sindoor, besides other factors, has powered India to the status of a “major power” in Asia in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1724,64,63,99,164,177989,1209,941,177987,177988,13789,15299,177990,177991],"class_list":["post-314852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-growth-of-india","tag-india","tag-japan","tag-major-power","tag-major-power-in-asia","tag-operation-sindoor","tag-pakistan","tag-power-of-india","tag-us-vs-china"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}