Liminal India plays a unique role in a divided world

'Liminality' describes a transitional phase that's a strategic asset for the country in world affairs

- NIRUPAMA RAO

Imagine a nation suspended in twilight: not immersed in darkness, nor risen fully into daylight, but shimmering on the edge of both. That's India today: neither a traditional power nor a passive player, neither fully aligned nor completely detached. It stands on the threshold of transformation—what anthropologists call 'liminality,' the space between what was and what will be. Coined by Arnold van Gennep in 1909, 'liminality' describes a transitional phase, or a passage between identities. India, in 2025, embodies this concept geopolitically, economically and strategically. It is both rising and restrained, global and grounded. Far from a weakness, it may be India's most powerful asset in a fractured world.

Geopolitically, India walks a tightrope between power blocs. It is part of the Quad with the US, Japan and Australia, but buys oil from Russia. It has deep ties with the West, yet engages with China, hosting dialogues and managing crises in Ladakh. This is not confusion; it is deliberate calibration.

India's regional role is equally nuanced. It towers over South Asia economically, with a $3.9 trillion GDP, yet remains bogged down by border tensions and neighbourhood instability. In the Indo-Pacific, it plays sentinel—shadowing Chinese survey ships near the Andamans while deepening ties with Southeast Asian partners.

This liminality also lets India shape the Global South's voice. Its push to include the African Union in the G20 in 2023 wasn't symbolic, but strategic. It signals that India sees itself not merely as an emerging power but as a bridge between the world's divides: North and South, East and West.