Two years after Modi secured India’s permanent seat at the G20, India’s calculated leadership in the Global South has become the playbook for navigating a world in flux, delivering not just diplomatic leverage but results that matter.

Amid intensifying trade wars and shifting alliances, Modi’s diplomatic strategy placed Africa at the G20’s core, illustrating the effectiveness of relationship-building and principled leadership in securing enduring strategic advantages for India.

India’s journey to securing Africa’s G20 membership began long before the historic announcement at New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam in September 2023. The groundwork was meticulously laid through Modi’s revolutionary “Voice of Global South Summit" in January 2023, which brought together leaders from over 125 developing nations in an unprecedented virtual gathering. The initiative constituted a fundamental reimagining of how emerging economies could collectively shape global discourse.

The summit’s theme, ‘Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose,’ was no empty slogan. It captured Modi’s intent to cast India as the true standard-bearer for developing world ambitions. Across ten tightly choreographed sessions. Ranging from climate finance to digital infrastructure, India proved it could convene and lead nations usually left on the margins of global power.

Modi’s approach was both audacious and calculated. By declaring that “your voice is India’s voice" and “your priorities are India’s priorities" to the assembled Global South leaders, he effectively positioned India not merely as another developing economy seeking its place at the high table, but as the authentic champion of the world’s most populous and resource-rich regions.

This was the linchpin in forging the coalition that ultimately delivered Africa’s G20 seat.

Modi’s pitch to G20 leaders in June 2023 was no accident. It capped months of back-channel talks and was timed for maximum impact and unveiled when India held the G20 presidency and could set the agenda on its own terms.

India’s diplomatic success lay in presenting the African Union’s inclusion as essential to the G20’s legitimacy, not as a favor. India argued persuasively that true representation, including Africa’s 1.5 billion people, was morally imperative and crucial to addressing global challenges. Critics called it ‘tokenism’ and questioned Africa’s influence, but proponents maintained the move strengthened the G20’s legitimacy and enlarged........

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