Global South Must Work Together: EAM

India's Call for Global South Unity: Vision or Overreach?

On September 25, 2025, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, at the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, made an impassioned plea for solidarity among Global South nations. Calling for “fair and transparent economic practices” alongside South-South cooperation in trade, investment, and technology, Jaishankar proposed ambitious reforms of global governance institutions such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). This is not mere rhetoric; India has positioned itself as a bridge between the developed Global North and the development-challenged Global South through high-profile initiatives like the Voice of Global South Summit (2023) and its G20 presidency the same year. Yet, beyond the speeches lies a harder question: can this coalition be operationalized to real outcomes?

India's Institutional Role: Aspirational Yet Constrained

The architecture for India's leadership in the Global South has historical underpinnings. Anchored by legacies such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G77, it now extends to concrete programs like Vaccine Maitri, digital public infrastructure exports, and development aid via concessional credit lines. To date, India has committed over $30 billion in such assistance across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Voice of Global South Summit brought representatives from 125 countries to emphasize priorities like climate justice, external debt sustainability, and closing the digital divide. These alignments of principle and policy rest largely within the Ministry of External Affairs and its Development Partnership Administration framework.

The UNSC expansion, pressed by India, highlights the disparity in representation: despite accounting for 85% of the global population, the Global South has no permanent seat in the Council. The African Union's inclusion in the G20—secured during India’s presidency—illustrates limited but tangible moves toward redressing these imbalances. However, the financial scale of India's initiatives pales next to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has mobilized over $1 trillion in infrastructure funding, shifting much Global South allegiance toward Beijing.

Reality Check: Structural Challenges

Beneath the veneer of aspiration lie deep institutional and structural tensions. India, despite its economic rise, faces domestic limitations that constrain its capability to act as an anchor for the South. According to the IMF, India's nominal GDP per capita in 2024 stood at approximately $2,600—a figure dwarfed by North America’s $80,000+. This internal resource limitation undercuts its ability to provide large-scale development assistance, leaving leadership acts largely symbolic.

Further complicating Jaishankar’s calls for “resilient supply chains” and transparent practices is the fractured nature of the Global South itself. Political instability, systemic corruption, and competing alliances—often shaped by competing bloc pressures from the US-China rivalry—fragment the possibility of genuine cooperation. From Latin America’s reliance on commodity exports to Africa’s developmental gaps under extractive narratives, collective priorities are hard to define. The irony here is that while India champions an independent, multipolar world order, it too faces pressure to choose sides amidst heightened geopolitical tensions.

Learning from Brazil

Brazil offers a compelling, instructive comparison. As a fellow BRICS member, it frames itself similarly—a regional leader bridging multilateral divides. However, Brazil has managed deeper integration within MERCOSUR, its regional trade bloc, fostering over $300 billion in intra-regional trade. India, in contrast, struggles even within SAARC, where political frictions with neighbors like Pakistan have stalled meaningful economic cooperation. The Brazilian approach also highlights something India has underutilized: robust agricultural exports as leverage. While India’s food surplus remains significant, its agricultural policies skew inward, missing a chance to enhance South-South trade via food security contributions.

What Success Would Look Like

For India's vision of Global South unity to go beyond summits, it must confront hard metrics: sustained trade and investment flows among southern nations, measurable development cooperation outcomes, and institutional wins like meaningful reforms in the UNSC or IMF voting shares. Additionally, India's diplomatic strategy will need to account for its competition with China, whose financial depth remains unmatched in Africa and Latin America. Can India position its domestic expertise in digital public infrastructure (e.g., Aadhaar and UPI systems) as scalable for Global South adaptation? Will its climate justice advocacy convert into tangible renewable energy partnerships?

However, much remains unresolved. The logistical flaws exposed during programs like Vaccine Maitri—where supply chains faltered in smaller economies—underscore the implementation gap. Similarly, India's internal instability in regions like Jammu & Kashmir often complicates its external credibility as a peacemaker, creating doubts within the larger Global South coalition.

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