It seems improbable that barely two years ago, world leaders stood in silent respect at Rajghat on a rain-drenched October 2, paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Among them were leaders of the US, Russia, China, and Europe. That was the era of President Joe Biden. Today, with Donald Trump back in power in the US, conversations on tariffs, trade wars, and inflated notions of “national prestige” dominate the global stage. India, facing these diktats, must pause to remember a timeless truth on this Gandhi Jayanti: Gandhian philosophy shows us how to stand up for what is right, without reducing national prestige to them versus us — an extension of our individual egos.
At the heart of this is the question: What is national prestige? What does this mean when the biggest consuming nation in the world, the most powerful military force, reduces all debate to tariffs, telling itself and the whole world that it’s being “ripped off”? Where relationships are defined in terms of who the enemy is. Where Trump is packaged as a worthy contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. When the slogan of the day is America for Americans, and where death is the refrain from Israel to Gaza, from Russia to Ukraine, from Bangladesh to Nepal, from Pakistan to Pahalgam.
The key to Gandhi’s message was the conviction that prestige comes not from domination or retaliation but from moral courage, truth and a consistent commitment to a politics of dignity. Gandhi warned against equating modern civilisation with progress. His critique of imperialism was not a rejection of the West but of policies that stripped dignity from peoples. He believed that the true meeting of East and West must be built on respect, not coercion. That belief shaped his refusal to accept Lord Irwin’s hospitality in 1931 even while negotiating at the highest political level. He insisted on dignity without hostility, self-respect without arrogance.
This distinction between ego and dignity is crucial today. Trump’s worldview reduces international relations to a balance sheet of tariffs and percentages, casting allies and rivals alike into a narrow calculus of profit and loss. Gandhi foresaw such dangers. That’s why his diplomacy rested on satyagraha, the truth force, the idea that justice and fairness ultimately outweigh brute strength.
How, then, should India respond to Trump’s aggressive nationalism? Not by mirroring it. Not by treating trade disputes as insults or slights. Rather, by embracing Gandhi’s conviction that national prestige lies in moral leadership. India must open itself to the world, but on terms that respect its dignity, diversity, and self-reliance. The Mahatma’s emphasis on self-sufficiency remains the best antidote to external pressure.
India’s strength lies not in knee-jerk counters but in showing that democracy in diversity can endure. Gandhi consistently linked domestic values with foreign policy. His experiments with non-violence in South Africa and later in India were not only strategies of resistance but also models of how nations might engage one another. By demonstrating that truth, tolerance, and pluralism can thrive in a vast, diverse society, India can offer the world a counter-narrative to Trump’s zero-sum politics. Gandhi’s life was his diplomacy — his ability to reject violence while standing firm turned moments of humiliation and defeat into sources of strength.
India need not fear Trump’s rhetoric. Instead, it should embody a politics that refuses to reduce global relationships to ego contests. Let Trump talk tariffs, India should talk fairness. Let Trump project fear; India should project dignity. By doing so, India not only protects its own interests but also revives a global politics of humanity, one in which democracy and diversity are sources of strength, not weakness.
On October 2, at Rajghat or Sabarmati, let us be reminded of the Mahatma’s voice — calm, resolute, and timeless, almost like a whisper. In an age of bombast and bluster, of noise 24 by seven, his principles remain India’s best foreign policy tool.
Nilay is the author of Being Good, Aaiye, Insaan Banen and Ethikos
