The Revolt of the Orchestra

At the beginning of 2025, if you asked someone in New Delhi, you probably would have heard a response of cautious optimism. India seemed well-positioned to deal with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Trade talks were likely to be difficult, but there was a sense of possibility. The strategic logic of the relationship, one assumed, was robust enough to ensure close engagement.

But today, the relationship feels deeply strained. We’ve arrived at an odd inflection point, one where deep strategic convergence coexists with growing political friction. There’s a bitterness in the air that hasn’t been seen for a long, long time.

To make sense of this moment, and to step back and look at the bigger picture of India’s place in the world, I reached out to someone who knows the craft of diplomacy inside out. Nirupama Menon Rao has had a remarkable career: she has served as India’s ambassador to both the United States and China, and high commissioner to Sri Lanka. She was also only the second woman ever to hold the post of India’s Foreign Secretary.

This is a wide-ranging conversation, from the personal to the geopolitical, from Washington and Beijing to New Delhi. We dig into the challenges and opportunities in India–US relations today, the balancing act with China and Russia. We also zoom out further, to ask: Are we truly in a new era of great power competition between the US and China? Or is this turbulence the messy reality of multipolarity?

Ambassador Rao offers an insightful and poetic take on the world today, comparing it to a revolt in the Orchestra. The conductor has lost some authority. The concertmaster is challenging him for leadership. And the percussion section is drumming its own beat. So, how does one navigate this environment?

As always, I hope you enjoy the conversation. Please like, share, subscribe and rate the episode. And if you’d like to support the show or the work I do, feel free to reach out to me on my email.

About: The Great Power Show is a bi-weekly podcast featuring candid conversations and thought-provoking interviews with leading scholars, thinkers and practitioners on the geopolitical and geo-economic changes shaping our world.