India is hosting its fourth leader-level Africa summit (the India-Africa Forum Summit, IAFS-IV) on May 31 under the official theme “IA SPIRIT”: India Africa Strategic Partnership for Innovation, Resilience, and Inclusive Transformation. The summit is significant. For the first time in 11 years, African leaders and multilateral organizations will convene in the Indian capital.
The return of the IAFS responds to the contemporary rupture of the international order that has left India in a particularly difficult position, prompting New Delhi to shore up ties with its traditional friends in the Global South. As described by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, the meeting will be “a message of stability in a turbulent world, of reliability in an uncertain one and of solidarity in difficult times.”
Politically, the event is a big deal. Successive Indian governments have positioned the country as the “leader of the Global South,” particularly drawing on strong India-Africa ties to evidence this claim. Whether recognized outside India or not, this claimed leadership is designed to support the country’s global clout, with the ability to mobilize the majority of countries and shape international decisions.
