UPSC Mains 2019 GS Paper 2 Q19: model answer

At Bandung in 1955 and Belgrade in 1961, India stood with newly free nations against colonialism and the Cold War blocs. It led the fight against apartheid at the UN from 1946 and championed a New International Economic Order in the 1970s.

Why the image seems to have faded

• Strategic alignment with the US, Japan and Australia in the Quad; foundational defence agreements with the US.
• Pragmatism over solidarity: deals with Israel, voting on UN resolutions by interest rather than principle.
• Economic self-interest: walking out of RCEP, using tariffs, pursuing FTAs with rich economies (UAE, Australia, UK, EFTA, and the EU in 2026).
• Aspiration to great power status: UNSC permanent seat, nuclear legitimacy, membership of export control regimes (MTCR 2016, Wassenaar 2017).
• NAM's decline: India's Prime Minister skipped the NAM summits of 2016 and 2019.

Why the image persists in a new form

• Voice of the Global South summits (2023 onward) during and after India's G20 presidency.
• African Union's G20 membership (2023), pushed by India.
• Vaccine Maitri (2021): vaccines to nearly 100 countries.
• Climate justice: insistence on common but differentiated responsibilities and finance from rich countries.
• Development partnerships: lines of credit in Africa, training through ITEC, digital public infrastructure shared with the Global South.
• First responder in disasters: Nepal (2015), Türkiye (2023), Myanmar (2025).
• BRICS chairship in 2026, where the New Delhi Declaration stressed reform of global institutions for the Global South.

Balanced view

The romantic, anti-Western leadership of the Nehru era has given way to multi-alignment: India works with the West on security and with the Global South on development and justice. The image has changed from protest leader to bridge-builder.

Conclusion

The statement captures a change but overstates it. India still speaks for the marginalised, now from inside the rooms where decisions are made rather than from outside them.