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Narendra Modi, who until recently was treated as a pariah by the US and UK, suddenly finds himself the object of affection of world leaders embroiled in disputes from Ukraine to the South China Sea.
Since winning the biggest Indian electoral mandate in 30 years last week, Prime Minister-designate Modi has spoken twice on the phone with US President Barack Obama, became one of three Twitter users followed by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and pledged to make relations with Russia "even stronger." China's state-run Global Times newspaper published an op-ed column saying he's likely to be "India's Nixon."
"Modi is the man of the moment," said Raja Menon, a security analyst at the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi who was formerly India's assistant chief of naval staff. "Modi is an economic animal, and he will make India's growth the chief factor in his foreign policy."
Modi will need to balance his call for stronger borders with nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and China against a need to boost gross domestic product in Asia's third-biggest economy from near a decade low. He comes to power as Japan and Southeast Asian countries are seeking to counter the rise of China, which in turn is strengthening ties with Russia amid its standoff with the US and Europe over Ukraine.
"India will try to play a balanced game," said Rory Medcalf, Director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney and a former Australian diplomat in India. "India doesn't want to take sides, especially in a competition between the US and China."
