Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visits to two African countries, South Africa and Ethiopia, within the span of a month, reflect more than routine diplomatic engagement. Together, they signal a deeper evolution in India’s foreign policy, from the legacy of non-alignment to a more confident form of strategic alignment rooted in Global South solidarity.

Interestingly, both South Africa and Ethiopia are members of BRICS, and India is set to host the BRICS Summit in 2026. At a moment when the BRICS bloc is under renewed pressure from the United States, India’s outreach to these two countries underscores its determination to pursue strategic autonomy while standing firmly with its partners in the Global South.

India’s engagement with Africa also underscores its willingness to take the mantle of Global South leadership, prioritizing trust, development, and mutual respect. More importantly, Modi’s visits to South Africa in November and Ethiopia in December signal India’s strategic autonomy and willingness to uphold principled partnerships despite political and economic pressure from Washington.

South Africa’s G20 presidency in 2025 unfolded amid acute global turbulence. Intensifying great-power competition, ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and growing disillusionment with multilateral institutions have eroded trust in global governance. Pretoria also inherited a rare strategic opportunity of global governance led by the Global South. South Africa drew the culmination of a four-year cycle of G20 presidencies led by Global South countries, following Indonesia, India, and Brazil.

Among these, India’s 2023 presidency provided a particularly instructive template, as reflected in South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s opening remarks when he publicly acknowledged the lessons that South Africa has drawn from India’s successful organization of the G20.

During India’s G20 presidency, India’s message to the group comprised of countries from both the global north and south was that a Global South presidency need not be defensive or reactive. Under the ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, which translates as “The world as one family”, India brought........

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