India in Panic Mode: The Cost of Overplaying the Hegemon’s Hand

Reading Time: 3 minutes New Delhi today finds itself in an increasingly precarious position, reeling from a trifecta of strategic and military setbacks delivered not by a formal alliance, but by a convergence of interests among Bangladesh, Pakistan, and China. While no trilateral defence pact binds these three neighbours, their actions—driven by sovereign calculations rather than collusion—have exposed the hollowness of India’s overstretched hegemony. The result? Delhi is in full-blown panic mode, and the cracks in its regional dominance are now unmistakably visible. A Collapse of the Hegemonic Gamble India’s post-2014 foreign and defence policy has been driven by an ambitious but ultimately reckless doctrine—seeking not peaceful leadership but unilateral supremacy over South Asia. New Delhi imagined itself the linchpin of regional affairs, casting its smaller neighbours as subordinate players within a grand Indian strategic orbit. That fantasy is now collapsing under the weight of geopolitical reality. Rather than basking