New Delhi: India has been ranked 16th among 154 countries in the Responsible Nations Index, a new global framework that measures how responsibly nations use their power in relation to their citizens, the environment, and the wider world. Launched this week, the index places Singapore at the top, followed by Switzerland and Denmark.
The Responsible Nations Index, or RNI, is an initiative of the World Intellectual Foundation and is the outcome of a three-year academic and policy exercise.
Unlike traditional global rankings that focus on economic size, military strength or geopolitical influence, the RNI shifts attention to responsibility as the central measure of national success.
India is ranked sixteenth, ahead of Italy, France, Albania and Poland, which complete the top twenty countries in the index. The United States has been placed at 66th, while China ranks 68th in the Responsible Nations Index 2026. Russia has been ranked much lower at 96th, reflecting weaker scores across responsibility parameters.
Launching the index, former President Ram Nath Kovind said the framework clearly defines what it means to be a responsible nation. “The index is an innovative academic concept that defines what constitutes a responsible nation. The index reveals how responsibly a country behaves toward its own citizens and toward all of humanity. For the coming generation, this is an important step,” he said.
The index draws data from widely recognized and publicly accessible international sources such as the World Bank, United Nations agencies, IMF, WHO, FAO, ILO and the World Justice Project, using the latest available data as of 2023.
