After a bruising season of setbacks — from tariff wars to being lectured on Russian oil — Indian diplomacy appears to have found its footing again. In quick succession, two unrelated developments have expanded India's diplomatic footprint and given real substance to its doctrine of strategic autonomy.
From fence-sitter to peacemaker: The Ukraine opening
On October 1, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha made a striking admission. Of the four peace proposals currently on the table — from India, Egypt, Turkiye and the United States — India's is the most "comprehensive."
"We have four proposals. The most comprehensive is India's proposal. For the first time, India has signalled its willingness to play a role," Sybiha said.
The distinction matters. Egypt and Turkiye have focused narrowly on a grain and agricultural truce in the Black Sea. The American proposal is centred on energy. India's proposal, according to Kyiv, links both into an "interconnected package" — an energy truce and an agricultural truce in the Black Sea, plus an unconditional ceasefire along the line of contact.
If accepted, the implications are global. It would mean safe passage for Russian fertilizer and Ukrainian grain, a cooling of world food and energy prices, and the first credible trust-building step in three years of war.
For New Delhi, the payoff is strategic. The country that was accused of fence-sitting for refusing to condemn Russia is now the only power trusted by both Moscow and Kyiv to mediate. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov first floated the idea in April 2022, Putin endorsed it in September 2024, and now Ukraine has publicly invited it. This moves India from being a passive advocate of peace to an active architect of it — a credential that directly strengthens its long-pursued case for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.
Courage at 34,000 Feet: The flydubai moment
The second boost came not from South Block, but from a cockpit.
On September 30, Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot flying FlyDubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, thwarted what investigators are calling an attempted hijack and deliberate crash. Despite being attacked with a crash axe by his co-pilot, the badly injured Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing off-duty pilots and passengers to restrain the attacker and land the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. All 174 people on board survived.
The accolades have been effusive and, tellingly, regional. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him a hero who averted a "9/11-style tragedy." Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu lauded his "unbelievable courage." US President Donald Trump, FlyDubai's UAE management, and Saudi authorities have all praised him.
In a region where narratives are shaped by religion and nationality, an Indian pilot saving a plane full of Israeli passengers, flying a UAE airline, and being treated in a Saudi hospital is powerful soft power — earned, not manufactured.
The larger picture: The Hexagon opportunity
Both episodes point to the same structural shift. As America's footprint in West Asia shrinks from that of a unilateral hegemon to one power among many, the region is hunting for new, non-aligned partnerships.
This is where India's opportunity lies. As earlier reported by THE WEEK, Netanyahu in February 2026 unveiled a vision of a "Hexagon of Alliances" — with Israel, India, Greece and Cyprus at its core, plus moderate Arab states like the UAE, to counter both the radical Shia axis and what he calls the emerging radical Sunni axis of Pakistan-Saudi-Turkey.
Crucially, India is courting the same set of countries — UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan — not as part of any bloc, but bilaterally.
This creates a unique space for New Delhi: an architecture that sits outside both the Russia-China-Iran axis and the US-led NATO axis. It is the purest expression of strategic autonomy — not equidistance, but the ability to be friends with all sides and be useful to all sides.
For the first time in a while, India is not just defending its autonomy; it is deploying it.
