The Indian U-17 men's team is eligible to compete in the AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers to book their spot in the AFC U17 Asian Cup (formerly the AFC U16 Championship), and other various age-group invitational tournaments. Reaching the semi-finals of the AFC U17 Asian Cup also guarantees automatic qualification for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

India made it to the quarter-finals in the 2002 and the 2018 editions of the AFC U-16 Championship but bowed out against the Republic of Korea on both occasions.

India qualified for the first edition of the AFC U17 Asian Cup by defeating Maldives, Kuwait and Myanmar in the qualifiers held in Saudi Arabia in October 2022. In the final tournament in Thailand in June 2023, the Bibiano Fernandes-coached Indian side finished third in the group stage after a 1-1 draw with Vietnam and losses to Uzbekistan (0-1) and Japan (4-8).