‘The long-sustained image of India as a leader of the oppressed and marginalised nations has disappeared on account of its new found role in the emerging global order.’ Elaborate.
Approach · directive: “elaborate”
What it asks · Evaluate the claim: trace India's earlier role as a voice of the colonised and the Global South, show how new alignments and economic interests have altered its image, and judge whether the image has really disappeared.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Elaborate India's earlier image as a leader of the oppressed and marginalised nations
- Elaborate how India's new role in the emerging global order has altered that image
- Judge whether the image has really disappeared: continuities and the balance
Open with · Nehru's India spoke for the colonised: it raised South Africa's treatment of Indians at the UN in 1946 and helped shape Bandung (1955), the NAM (1961) and the G-77 (1964).
Cover
- Older image: anti-colonial, anti-apartheid voice; NAM and G-77; ITEC since 1964 has trained over 2,00,000 professionals in 160 countries.
- New role: post-1991 interests, the Quad and the bid for a permanent UNSC seat; courted by major powers; a swing power among the US, Russia and China.
- Neighbourhood asymmetry breeds suspicion and weakens India's claim to speak for smaller states.
- Continuities: WTO G-20 bloc (2003) and food security, climate justice, the International Solar Alliance (2015), lines of credit and disaster relief.
- Since 2019: Voice of Global South Summits (100+ countries in each of three editions); African Union made a permanent G20 member under India's presidency.
- Assessment: the image has changed, not vanished; leadership now rests on capacity and interest, not solidarity alone.
Close with · India's G20 theme, 'One Earth, One Family, One Future', restates the old solidarity in the language of capacity; the image endures where action matches that rhetoric.
Add value (verified)
- India's ITEC programme, begun in 1964, has trained over 2,00,000 professionals in 160 countries and leads its South–South capacity building.MEA Annual Report 2022 ↗“has contributed to the capacity enhancement of more than 2,00,000 professionals since its inception in 1964”
- Under India's G20 presidency the African Union was inducted as a permanent member of the G20.MEA: G20 brief ↗“Inducted African Union as a permanent member of the G20”
- India's Voice of Global South Summit drew more than 100 countries in each of its three editions.PIB: backgrounder on India's foreign policy (June 2025) ↗“India’s Voice of Global South Summit drew 100+ countries in each of three editions.”
- India's G20 presidency theme was 'One Earth, One Family, One Future'.PIB: India's G20 Presidency (November 2022) ↗“The G-20 mantra is - One Earth, One Family, One Future.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 324words · Minimalist IAS
Nehru's India spoke for the colonised. It raised South Africa's treatment of Indians at the UN in 1946 and helped shape Bandung (1955), the NAM (1961) and the G-77 (1964). Today's India is also a large economy, a nuclear power and a partner of major powers, which raises the question of what remains of that image.
- 1946: Racism in South Africa at UN
- 1955: Bandung
- 1961: NAM
- 1964: G-77 and ITEC
- 2015: International Solar Alliance
India's image as leader of the marginalised
- Moral voice: India opposed colonialism and apartheid and pressed for a fairer economic order through the NAM and G-77.
- South–South cooperation: ITEC has trained over 2,00,000 professionals in 160 countries since 1964.
How the new role has altered it
- Interests over solidarity: post-1991 liberalisation, the Quad and the bid for a permanent Security Council seat show a great-power orientation.
- Courted, not leading: on trade, nuclear and security questions India weighs national interest as much as Global South solidarity.
- Swing power: India balances the US, Russia and China through the Quad, BRICS and the SCO, not as a bloc leader.
- Neighbourhood asymmetry: smaller neighbours' suspicion weakens its claim to speak for them.
Has the image disappeared?
- Trade justice: India championed developing countries through the WTO G-20 bloc (2003) and on food security.
- Climate justice: it speaks for climate justice and launched the International Solar Alliance (2015).
- Development partnership: lines of credit, capacity building and disaster relief sustain goodwill in Africa and Asia.
- Since then: India's Voice of Global South Summits drew over 100 countries in each of three editions, and its G20 presidency made the African Union a permanent member.
Assessment
- Changed, not vanished: India now speaks for the Global South from influence rather than weakness, but credibility depends on consistent stands and reform of multilateral bodies.
India's G20 theme, 'One Earth, One Family, One Future', restates the old solidarity in the language of capacity. The image endures wherever action matches that promise.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
