The Lowy Institute’s annual Asia Power Index places India as the third most powerful country in Asia. India has surpassed Japan to secure the spot in the 2024 regional power rankings.

This is the first edition of the Asia Power Index in which India has increased its overall power score (+2.8 points), which still remains slightly below its score in 2018 and 2019, the report stated. It pointed out that India’s great strength in Asia is the resources it brings from its huge population, landmass, and economy – already the world’s third largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). However, its clout remains below the potential promised by its resources, the report adds.

The annual Asia Power Index – launched by the Lowy Institute in 2018 – measures resources and influence to rank the relative power of states in Asia. The Index ranks 27 countries and territories in terms of their capacity to shape their external environment – its scope reaching as far west as Pakistan, as far north as Russia, and as far into the Pacific as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

The project evaluates international power in Asia through 131 indicators across eight thematic measures: Military Capability and Defence Networks, Economic Capability and Relationships, Diplomatic and Cultural Influence, as well as Resilience and Future Resources.

The United States of America tops the Asia Power Index, though “it is losing ground to China on Military Capability”. The United States leads China, the second most powerful country in Asia, on six out of eight measures in the Asia Power Index.

US (81.7) and China (72.7) are the only two ‘Superpowers’ with ≥ 70 scores. They are followed by India with 39.1 points.

India’s scores: