India has officially been recognised as a major power in the 2025 Asia Power Index released by the Lowy Institute, an Australia-based think tank that studies regional influence. This year, India achieved a score of 40, crossing the benchmark required to be classified as a major power for the first time. This is a significant milestone because India has hovered just below this threshold for several years.
In the overall rankings, India now stands at third place among 27 countries, behind only the United States and China. This places India firmly among the top regional players in terms of economic strength, military capability, diplomatic influence, and future potential. It also marks India’s strongest performance since the Index began.
One of the key reasons for India’s rise is its improving economy. The Index notes that India has become more attractive to foreign investors, benefitting from global shifts in supply chains. For the first time since 2018, India’s score for “economic relationships”, which measures trade and investment ties, showed a clear improvement. This growth helped strengthen India’s position across several economic categories.
India’s military capability also saw a notable boost this year. Analysts attribute part of this improvement to Operation Sindoor, a major operation conducted in 2025 that demonstrated India’s readiness and operational strength. The operation enhanced India’s defence credibility and contributed positively to its military score in the Index. Together with India’s growing defence technologies and modernisation efforts, this helped elevate its standing as a strategic power.
However, the report also highlights areas where India still lags behind. The biggest weakness is in defence networks, which measure a country’s alliances, partnerships, and military cooperation with other nations. In this category, India fell to 11th place, dropping two positions from the previous edition. This indicates that while India has strong capabilities, it has fewer formal defence partnerships compared to many other Asian countries.
The Index also points to India’s widening “power gap”, the difference between its potential capabilities and its actual influence on the world stage. Although India has improved across several indicators, its influence still does not fully reflect its economic and military strength. The gap with China remains especially large, showing that India has more work to do in translating its resources into global influence.
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