India, Nov. 6 -- The outcome of the American midterm elections offers a lesson that extends far beyond the fortunes of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. The Democratic victory in both chambers of Congress has altered Washington's political landscape and placed the administration under a new set of legislative constraints. For India, however, the more consequential question is not who controls Congress, but how a country with growing global ambitions should protect its interests in an international environment increasingly shaped by domestic political uncertainty in major powers. The answer requires clarity of purpose: India's foreign policy cannot be contingent on the electoral fortunes of another country.

American voters ...