Colonel Dheeraj Kumar

This Occasional Paper examines how geoeconomics has emerged as a decisive instrument of statecraft in an era where sanctions, economic coercion, and weaponised interdependence increasingly shape international outcomes. Tracing the evolution of the concept from Luttwak to contemporary scholarship, it clarifies the relationship between geoeconomics and geopolitics, and explains how economic tools are now central to hybrid and grey zone warfare. Against this backdrop, the paper analyses India’s historical roots in geoeconomic thinking, its post-independence policy shifts, and its present status as a rising geoeconomic actor in Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific. Using comparative indices and a detailed SWOT analysis, the author assesses India’s current strengths, vulnerabilities, and power gap vis-à-vis major powers. The study concludes with a set of policy recommendations on capability development, economic reform, trade, infrastructure, technology, and soft power, aimed at enabling India to convert its growing economic weight into sustainable influence. It will be of particular value to policymakers, practitioners, and scholars concerned with India’s foreign policy, economic strategy, and the evolving global order.