New Delhi : Spurred by economic growth and military capability based on its performance in Operation Sindoor, India has reached ‘major power’ status on the Asia Power Index-2025, Australia-based think tank Lowy Institute said on Friday.
The top five countries of 2025 in terms of overall power are the United States, China, India, Japan and Russia. Australia dropped one place in this year’s ranking, to sixth. While the United States remains the most powerful country in Asia, its power has fallen to the lowest level since the inception of the index in 2018.
India’s power in Asia continues to grow steadily, and in 2025, passed the threshold defined by the Asia Power Index for major power status. India has widened its small lead over Japan with its score rising by 0.9 points in 2025. It is ranked third with a score of 40, behind the US (80.4) and China (73.5). Notably, India remains on the cusp of being a military superpower if it crosses the score of 40.
The think tank said that India’s economic and military capability have both increased. “Its economy has continued to grow strongly and made small gains in terms of its geopolitical relevance — defined in terms of international leverage, connectivity, and technology. India’s military capability has also improved steadily,” it said.
Operation Sindoor was carried out in May 2025, when India struck nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. Its missile strikes on key air bases prompted Pakistani DGMO to reach out to India for ceasefire. “For the most part, these gains were from improved expert appraisals of its capability, which were likely influenced by India’s performance in Operation Sindoor, launched in May 2025, which added to India’s recent combat experience,” it said.
While its trade ties across Asia remain relatively weak, India overtook China as the second-largest destination for inward investment after the United States, based on cumulative flows over a decade. The shift, according to the assessment, was driven by global supply-chain diversification and India’s growing attractiveness as an investment hub.
India also recorded a marginal improvement in diplomatic influence. The assessment attributed this to more frequent bilateral engagements and expert views suggesting an improvement in the quality of India’s diplomatic service.
The think tank, however, stated that India’s vast structural gap with China has grown even further. China continues to erode the United States’ advantage in military capability, has weathered Washington’s coercive economic policies, and has benefited from uncertainty about the Trump administration’s approach to Asia, with its diplomatic influence reaching an all-time high for any Asia Power Index country.
Australia recorded a small decline as it struggled to match others’ economic and military resources. Benefiting from the support of authoritarian partners China and North Korea, Russia regained fifth place in the overall rankings.
The United States is losing ground in Asia, recording its lowest ever score in the 2025 Asia Power Index. China is gaining advantage, closing the gap with the United States to its narrowest margin since 2020. China is well placed to withstand coercive US economic policies. And it is successfully positioning itself as a reliable partner amid uncertainty about the US approach to Asia.
Moscow’s power in Asia is rebounding, with ‘Fortress Russia’ having proved able to withstand the costs of war and sanctions. In 2025, Russia’s power in Asia was boosted by growing economic and defence partnerships with authoritarian partners North Korea and China.
Japan’s power in Asia remains steady, though it recorded negative results for all resource measures except military capability, where it recorded modest growth. Leadership churn in Tokyo has seen it lose altitude as a foreign policy leader in the Indo-Pacific.
Southeast Asian countries mostly recorded small improvements in their comprehensive power in 2025, but the picture was mixed. The 2025 ASEAN chair Malaysia enjoyed growing regional influence, but others, in particular Thailand, continue to be domestically preoccupied. The diplomacy of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was focused more globally than regionally.
Australia faces a long-term challenge to maintain relative power in Asia. It slipped back below Russia in the 2025 Asia Power Index rankings. Its economic and military resources have declined relative to other countries, meaning it will need to work harder with what it has to maintain its regional influence, as per the assessment.
The seventh edition of the annual assessment, authored by Susannah Patton and Jack Sato, evaluates the power of 27 countries and territories across Asia, based on 131 indicators across eight thematic measures, including Military Capability and Defence Networks, Economic Capability and Relationships, Diplomatic and Cultural Influence, as well as Resilience and Future Resources. The annual Asia Power Index surveys countries as far west as Pakistan, as far north as Russia, and as far into the Pacific as Australia, New Zealand and the United States
