Article
U.S. Withdrawal from Multilateral Institutions: Challenge to Viksit Bharat

By : Asoke Mukerji

Page No: 178-193

Abstract
The decision of the United States to withdraw from selected multilateral bodies has a direct impact on India’s reliance on a supportive multilateral framework for achieving its objective of becoming a developed country (Viksit Bharat) by 2047. By withdrawing from major international treaties and multilateral institutions involved in drawing up, and implementing, the sustainable development agenda, the U.S. effectively challenges India’s national priorities in leading through example on its sustainable development goals through international cooperation. This challenge includes repudiating special and differential multilateral legal provisions that anchor the “right to development”, which have enabled India to emerge as a major global economy. By undermining multilateral treaties and institutions, the U.S. seeks to coerce sovereign partner countries into accepting the extra-territorial application of U.S. domestic laws and priorities. Countering this challenge must be a priority for India as it transforms itself into a major power.

Author
Amb. Asoke Mukerji is a Distinguished Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi. He is a former Ambassador of India to the United Nations in New York.
 

DOI: http://doi.org/10.32381/NS.2026.09.02.2