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'India a middle power in Asia': Country rises in Indo-Pacific power rankings, lags in economic ties: Lowy Institute

According to the report, given its available resources, India exerts less influence in the region than expected

Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, which ranks 26 countries and territories in the Indo-Pacific region based on their power and influence, in its annual report said India overtook Japan to become the the third-most powerful country in Asia.

The report began by calling India "a middle power in Asia".

According to the report, India performs the best in the future resources measure and is only behind the US and China.

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"By contrast, India’s lowest-ranked measure is economic relationships, a result of the country sitting outside the regional economic integration agenda," it stated.

The report stated that India's score improved across the resources measures this year although the country did not gain a ranking in any measures.

"It dropped one place for both economic relationships and defence networks to 10th and 9th, respectively, repeating its performance in 2023 when its rankings also declined for each of these measures," the report said.

The report noted that given its available resources, India exerts less influence in the region than expected.

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"In 2024, India had the greatest gains in future resources (+8.2). It lost the most points in defence networks (−2.5)...it improved in resilience (+5.2), diplomatic influence (+4.5), economic capability (+4.2), economic relationships (+2.1) and military capability (+1.1)." the report noted.

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