US Public Diplomacy and India: A Billion Screens and a New Geography of Power

For Washington, the challenge is to treat India as a genuine strategic partner, not merely an instrument against Beijing. For New Delhi, it is to welcome global engagement without allowing others to define its story.

The US-China rivalry has escaped the factory floor and entered the feed. Many believe that the next great contest between major powers may not be fought over territory alone, or even over who controls the most factories, chips or shipping lanes. It may unfold in the territory of human attention, where influence is accumulated one screen, one podcast, one message and one trusted conversation at a time.

That is the larger significance of the Trump administration's renewed focus on public diplomacy, with India emerging as a key priority for the United States Agency for Global Media, or USAGM. During her confirmation hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sarah Rogers, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead USAGM, indicated that Asia would be among the agency's principal areas of focus as Washington seeks to strengthen its global communication and counter information campaigns associated with authoritarian governments.

The choice of India is revealing. It reflects Washington's recognition that the world's most populous country is no longer merely an audience waiting to be reached. India is becoming one of the world's most consequential centres of influence, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, more than 950 million active internet users and a diaspora that connects economic, professional and political networks across continents.

For the United States, India therefore represents both an enormous audience and something more valuable, a potential multiplier of influence. But India's greatest opportunity is not to become the loudest voice in someone else's information war. It is to become a voice the world cannot afford to ignore.

The Factory Floor Has Given Way to the Feed

For decades, international public diplomacy rested on radio, television and conventional broadcasting. The architecture was relatively simple. Governments created content, broadcasters transmitted it, and audiences consumed it. That world has fractured.

People now encounter geopolitics between entertainment videos, through podcasts, private messaging groups, social media influencers and online communities that may have no obvious connection to governments. Information travels through networks of trust rather than neatly defined channels, often reaching people before institutions have even decided what they want to say.

Rogers' emphasis on short-form videos, podcasts, diaspora group chats and other digital channels reflects this transformation. The competition is no longer simply about who possesses the loudest megaphone. It is about who can enter the conversation naturally, establish credibility and remain relevant after the first message disappears into the endless scroll.

This is where the US-China rivalry is entering a more complicated phase. The contest remains visible in semiconductors, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, supply chains and military capabilities. But beneath these tangible arenas runs another contest over perception.

China has spent years building international media networks, cultural exchanges, development partnerships and digital relationships. Its influence is rarely delivered through one instrument. Infrastructure, trade, technology, education and communication often reinforce one another.

Washington's renewed interest in public diplomacy signals a recognition that geopolitical power depends on the ability to shape how events are interpreted, not merely on the ability to shape events themselves. The battlefield has become psychological and intensely personal.

Why Washington Is Looking at India

India's importance to this new information contest begins with scale, but it does not end there. With more than 950 million active internet users, India represents one of the world's largest digital audiences. Its sheer size means that a communication strategy capable of gaining traction in India can acquire an influence far beyond any conventional broadcasting market.

Yet scale alone does not explain India's importance. India possesses a vast English-speaking population, a powerful media and entertainment ecosystem and an overwhelmingly confident technology sector. Its digital public infrastructure has also become part of its international story.

Considering UPI, in October 2025, India's Unified Payments Interface processed more than 20 billion transactions in a single month. That number is remarkable not simply because of the volume involved, but because it demonstrates how a technological system created to solve everyday problems can become a symbol of national capability and a subject of global interest.

This is how influence works. A payment platform becomes a development story. A digital identity system becomes a governance conversation. A technology ecosystem becomes an argument about what a country can build. Then there is the Indian diaspora.

India received more than USD 135 billion in remittances in 2024, the highest figure recorded by any country. But the deeper significance of the diaspora cannot be measured only in money sent home. Indian-origin communities connect universities, technology companies, hospitals, research institutions, businesses and political networks across borders.

Rogers' reference to diaspora group chats is therefore more significant than it might initially appear. The future of public diplomacy may often depend less on what an official broadcaster says and more on what trusted individuals repeat in communities where information is exchanged every day.

For Washington, India can therefore be an audience, a bridge and a multiplier. But there is a line that must not be crossed. India may be America's preferred partner in Asia, but that does not make it a proxy.

India Is Learning to Tell Its Own Story

There is another dimension to Washington's interest that deserves equal attention. India itself has become capable of communicating its own global narrative.

Digital diplomacy, diaspora engagement, humanitarian assistance, development partnerships and cultural outreach have expanded India's international presence. Its experience with digital public infrastructure, its growing role in technology and its efforts to articulate the concerns of the Global South have all contributed to a broader perception of India as a country with ideas and capabilities of its own.

The world is interested not merely in what India buys, sells or imports; instead, it is watching what India represents. That gives New Delhi an unusual position in the emerging information landscape. India is simultaneously a major market, a vital partner, a technology power, a voice of the Global South and an independent diplomatic actor with relationships extending from Washington to Moscow and from Tokyo to the Gulf.

If Washington sees India merely as another platform for countering Beijing, it will misunderstand the source of India's influence. India's weight comes from its ability to engage multiple centres of power without becoming permanently absorbed into any one camp.

The new public diplomacy push should be understood as a two-way opportunity. Washington wants to communicate more effectively with Indian audiences, but India's growing influence also gives New Delhi a chance to communicate more effectively with the world. The relationship is becoming less about who speaks to whom and more about who helps shape the global conversation.

Where Attention Becomes Investment

The information contest may sound distant from economics, but the connection is remarkably direct. A country's reputation influences how investors perceive risk, how companies assess markets and how students choose universities. It affects tourism, talent mobility, research partnerships and consumer confidence. Before capital crosses a border, perception often crosses it first.

This matters enormously for the future of India-US relations. The next generation of bilateral cooperation will increasingly involve semiconductors, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing and digital technologies. These sectors require more than government agreements. They depend on confidence among businesses, researchers, entrepreneurs, students and investors.

Trust is therefore becoming an economic infrastructure of its own. A credible national narrative can make an unfamiliar market appear more accessible. A damaged reputation can increase uncertainty even when the underlying economic fundamentals remain strong. Public diplomacy, in this sense, is not simply about winning hearts and minds. It can help determine where capital moves, where talent migrates and where innovation takes root.

For the United States, deeper engagement with Indian audiences can strengthen relationships that support investment, technology partnerships and research collaboration. For India, greater engagement with American institutions and communities can similarly expand access to capital, expertise and global networks. The information space and the economic space are no longer separate rooms; today they are connected by the same corridor.

The Hardest Currency Is Credibility

Public diplomacy works only when people trust the messenger. In an age of political polarisation, misinformation and declining confidence in institutions, producing more content does not automatically produce more influence. The real challenge is persuading audiences that the information being offered deserves their attention.

That becomes particularly difficult when the stated objective is to counter competing narratives. If international broadcasting is perceived merely as government messaging in a more polished package, audiences may simply scroll past it.

Credibility cannot be manufactured at the speed of a social media campaign. It is accumulated slowly through consistency, accuracy and institutional trust.

Artificial intelligence will make the challenge harder. Synthetic media, manipulated videos and AI-generated narratives will rather blur the boundary between authentic information and manufactured reality. The future information contest will therefore be fought on two fronts at once, for attention and for authenticity.

The country that produces the most content may not win; instead, the country that builds the deepest reservoirs of trust might. This is a lesson that applies equally to Washington, Beijing and New Delhi.

India's Moment Is Bigger Than America's Strategy

For India, the emerging information contest is both an opportunity and a warning. New Delhi should welcome deeper American engagement while preserving its vital autonomy and independent voice.

India can also strengthen its own global communication through digital literacy, media technology, academic exchanges and cultural partnerships. Its technology companies, universities and diaspora networks can help move the country from being an audience for competing narratives to shaping them.

The Trump administration's focus on India therefore signals more than a change in USAGM's broadcasting strategy. It reflects a world where influence is shaped on smartphones, podcasts and private networks where trust is won or lost.

For Washington, the challenge is to treat India as a genuine strategic partner, not merely an instrument against Beijing. For New Delhi, it is to welcome global engagement without allowing others to define its story. India is no longer sitting in the audience. The question is whether it will merely speak louder, or become one of the voices the world chooses to hear.