Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation at the G20 Summit held in Brazil on 18-19 November holds immense significance in the current geopolitical context. Firstly, the visit came at a time when the internal politics of the world’s most powerful country, US, is at a radical crossroads. With the unprecedented victory of Donald Trump in the US elections, one can expect some major churnings in the samudra manthan of diplomacy (if one can take a bit of liberty with hyperboles in the world of international relations).
US President-elect Donald Trump’s government is expected to take radical steps to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, or at the very least, bring an end to the US’s role in covertly fuelling the crisis. For India, the Trump administration offers the promise of cracking down on the Khalistani terror network in the US and Canada, as well as curbing the rise of anti-Hindu sentiment in the West, evident in the increasing temple attacks and disturbing incidents of hate crimes against Hindus in the US.
Prime Minister Modi’s participation in the G20 Summit came at a time when the Global South has emerged as a consolidated grouping like never before. The Global South has been steadily growing in strength under India’s core diplomatic conceptualisation of “Vishwamitra.” India pioneered the ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ in 2023, with the first and second sessions held in January 2023 and November 2023, respectively. The third edition of the virtual summit was hosted by India in August 2024 under the theme “An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future,” featuring participation from 173 dignitaries representing 123 countries.
Moreover, the G20 Summit in Brazil marked the first meeting of the grouping following the African Union’s inclusion as a Permanent Member of G20. The 55-nation bloc, representing the African continent, became the 21st permanent member of the grouping during India’s hosting of the G20 Summit in 2023. India initially proposed this idea and, through persistent behind-the-scenes diplomacy and collaboration with other Global South nations, successfully pushed for this milestone, enhancing the representation of developing countries in global decision-making.
In keeping with India’s focus on the issues of the Global South, PM Modi highlighted in his G20 Summit address that the grouping should prioritise the challenges and needs of the Global South, which has borne the brunt of the food, fertiliser, and fuel crisis triggered by global conflicts. Prime Minister Modi made these remarks during the first session of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which focused on “Social Inclusion and the Fight Against Hunger and Poverty.”
PM Modi’s visits to Nigeria and Guyana, along with his participation at the G20 Summit in Brazil, hold immense significance in the context of India’s decisive leadership in consolidating the Global South and championing a multilateral world order. Not only did PM Modi become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Nigeria in 17 years, but he also raised critical global issues such as terrorism, separatism, piracy, and drug trafficking during a bilateral meeting with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As India and Nigeria agreed to deepen collaboration in intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism, and maritime security, the broader implications of these developments merit attention.
While Western media frequently highlights terrorism and radicalisation in Europe, the US, West Asia, and the Middle East, radicalisation in Africa has not received the level of media and civil society focus it deserves. A 2021 piece by the
Observer Researcher Foundation (ORF) provides a detailed account of terrorism in Nigeria, including the activities of the radical Islamist terror group Boko Haram. It discusses how Boko Haram members have reportedly received training from other terror outfits such as Al-Qaeda and maintain connections with various national and transnational networks, including the Islamic State (IS) and Al Shabab. “It has relied on mass kidnappings of school children for ransom, raids on cache of arms and ammunition, and levying of taxes on farms and agricultural produce to generate funds. The booming international fish market of Nigeria is also being controlled by Boko Haram. Owing to Boko Haram’s activities, during the past 10 years, over 38,000 people have lost their lives and in the Lake Chad region, comprising Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, 3.2 million people have been displaced, in which 2.9 million are internally displaced persons (IDPs) from northeast Nigeria”, the article notes.
India itself suffers from the menace of Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism, with traditionally little support from the Global North to counter the threat. Since the US troops withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban regime took over the country in 2021, India’s security has been at an even greater stake. Yet, the Western ecosystem often overlooks India’s concerns regarding cross-border terrorism sponsored by its neighbours like Pakistan, since the issue doesn’t affect their own security firsthand. On the contrary, Western countries have, often knowingly or unknowingly, entertained elements that have been blatantly antithetical to the unity and integrity of India.
The UK, for example, has a consistent history of meddling in India’s internal affairs, with the Jammu and Kashmir issue repeatedly raised in the British Parliament. Recently, the renowned Oxford University became a centre of controversy when the Oxford Union hosted a debate titled ‘This House Believes in the Independent State of Kashmir’. Hindu advocacy organisations in the UK protested both the subject of the debate and the inclusion of Pakistan-origin activist Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Zafar Khan as speakers. Indian students at Oxford conveyed their horror in a letter to university authorities, expressing their concerns about the inclusion of these individuals, who were linked to anti-India terrorist organisations.
Given how the West often uses the issue of terrorism as a geopolitical tool vis-à-vis India under the guise of freedom of expression, India has rightfully made the issue of terrorism a cornerstone of its foreign policy. Most declarations issued after PM Modi’s bilateral meetings with various world leaders include clauses condemning terrorism or outlining joint counterterrorism operations. During German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent visit to India, the two countries signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in Criminal Matters, which, as Prime Minister Modi stated, will further strengthen their resolve to combat separatist elements and terrorism.
In September 2024, the Foreign Ministers of India, Brazil, and South Africa condemned terrorism in all its forms and called for concerted action against Pakistan-based terrorist groups such as LeT and JeM in a joint media statement. The statement was issued during India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s meeting with his Brazilian and South African counterparts on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The G20 Rio Declaration also condemned terrorism “in all its forms and manifestations.” When India hosted the G20 in 2023, the fight against terrorism was a core part of the agenda. The G20 2023 Delhi Declaration featured a dedicated section on ‘Countering Terrorism and Money Laundering’, which not only condemned terrorism but also highlighted the urgent need to dismantle terror financing mechanisms. During his visit to Nigeria, the Indian Prime Minister carried forward India’s core foreign policy commitment, using both bilateral and multilateral platforms to raise the issue of terrorism’s threat to global peace and security, particularly by aligning the Global South on the condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Continuing India’s advocacy for the Global South, PM Modi also emphasised during the Rio Summit that Brazil’s presidency of the G20 has provided further momentum for the people-centric decisions and initiatives issued at the New Delhi Summit last year.
The Covid crisis marked a significant shift in global power dynamics, serving as a turning point in India’s role in consolidating the Global South as an independent entity. India’s vaccine diplomacy, through the Vaccine Maitri initiative, helped many developing countries access Covid-19 vaccines at a time when many Western nations were engaged in vaccine hoarding. India also led the effort to establish global manufacturing and supply chains outside the mainstream networks dominated by the Global North, particularly in the pharmaceutical and health sectors.
India built on this momentum with the introduction of the ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ and its successful lobbying at the 2023 New Delhi G20 Summit, which resulted in the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the grouping.
The global order is at a crucial crossroads, with so-called multilateral institutions like the UN rapidly losing relevance as they have been reduced to talk shops dominated by a privileged few. In this context, India continues to focus on the Global South. PM Modi’s visits to Nigeria and Guyana, along with his participation at the G20 Summit in Brazil, should be viewed through this lens.
Rati Agnihotri is an independent journalist and writer currently based in Dehradun (Uttarakhand). Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.