There is no soft power without hard power. Ambassador Kanwal Sibal and Dr. S.Y. Quraishi examine India’s global stature through the lens of democratic resilience and strategic autonomy.

Sibal traces India’s non-alignment tradition to its Cold War roots — a policy that preserved foreign policy independence but came at cost: the Soviet Union became India’s biggest economic partner, meaning the USSR’s collapse directly triggered India’s 1991 crisis. He argues that the United States has historically damaged India strategically more than any other power — through technology denial, sanctions post-1974, and ideological opposition to public sector cooperation. The conversation covers China’s stapled visa provocations, the case for building defence capabilities as the only credible deterrence, and why soft power remains meaningless without the hard power that backs it.

About the Speakers:
Ambassador Kanwal Sibal (Padma Shri) served as India’s Foreign Secretary, and prior to that, he held various diplomatic positions, including serving as India’s Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France, and Russia. He has been involved in numerous high-level negotiations and has represented India’s interests on the global stage effectively.

Dr. S. Y. Quraishi is the former Chief Election Commissioner of India and a distinguished civil servant, who also held key roles including Secretary of Youth Affairs and Sports and Director General of the National AIDS Control Organization. He has authored several works on democracy, public health, and social development. He was a Board Member of International IDEA from 2012 to 2021.

Emaad Makhdoomi is the Principal Correspondent for The New Indian (J&K & Ladakh), and formerly served as Consulting Editor for Greater Kashmir. His journalism has appeared in News18, Organiser, The Times of India, and Republic World.