Is India Under Pressure to Pick a Side?
As Trump threatens to double tariffs and Putin courts Modi, can India rise as a great power without choosing a side?
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Willy Kurniawan / Pool Photo via AP
About the Episode
India’s rise is undeniable—but so are the roadblocks. With President Trump threatening to double tariffs over Russian oil imports and China on its doorstep, can the world’s largest democracy maintain its strategic autonomy? Foreign Policy’s Ravi Agrawal and University of Chicago’s Raghuram Rajan explore.
About the Experts
Ravi Agrawal
Editor in Chief, Foreign Policy
Ravi Agrawal is editor in chief of Foreign Policy. Prior to joining FP, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent.
Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He served as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from September 2013 to September 2016 and was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2006.
President & Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri joined the Council in 2025 as the president and chief executive officer, after previously serving as director of the US and the Americas program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, in London. She brings more than 20 years of experience working at the intersection of international affairs, research, policy, and public engagement.
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