India in Regional and Global Groupings

Prerequisites: Regional and Global Groupings — overview · India and its Neighbourhood

The Hook: A Seat for Africa at Delhi

The Core Concept

India’s approach is often called multi-alignment: instead of joining one bloc, India works with different partners in different formats, depending on the issue. Groupings serve four purposes:

1. Neighbourhood and connectivity — SAARC, BIMSTEC, BBIN, Mekong–Ganga Cooperation.
2. Indo-Pacific balance — ASEAN-led forums, the Quad, IPEF.
3. Reform of the global order and the voice of the Global South — BRICS, IBSA, G20.
4. Continental and security interests — the SCO (Central Asia, terrorism), Indian Ocean forums.

graph TD
    I[India: multi-alignment] --> N[Neighbourhood: SAARC, BIMSTEC, BBIN]
    I --> P[Indo-Pacific: ASEAN forums, Quad, IPEF]
    I --> G[Global order: G20, BRICS, IBSA]
    I --> E[Eurasia: SCO]
    I --> O[Indian Ocean: IORA, IONS, Colombo Security Conclave]
    I --> T[Technology regimes: MTCR, Wassenaar, Australia Group]

South Asia and the Bay of Bengal

Why SAARC stalled and BIMSTEC rose: SAARC works by consensus and bars bilateral disputes from its agenda, so India–Pakistan hostility freezes it. After the Uri attack (September 2016), India and several members declined to attend the Islamabad summit, which was then postponed. BIMSTEC has no Pakistan, includes two ASEAN members (Myanmar and Thailand), and fits both Neighbourhood First and Act East. India invited BIMSTEC leaders to the BRICS outreach in Goa (October 2016) and to the 2019 swearing-in.

ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific

ASEAN was founded on 8 August 1967 by the Bangkok Declaration with five members — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997) and Cambodia (1999) took it to ten. The secretariat is in Jakarta. Timor-Leste was admitted in principle in November 2022.

India’s ASEAN ladder:

India stayed out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), announcing its decision in November 2019, mainly over fears of a surge of Chinese imports and the lack of adequate safeguards.

Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue — Australia, India, Japan, US):

• Roots in the Tsunami Core Group formed after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
• First meeting in 2007; went dormant; revived at officials’ level in November 2017 (Manila).
• First leaders’ summit (virtual) in March 2021; first in-person leaders’ summit in September 2021 (Washington).
• Practical agenda: vaccines, critical and emerging technology, climate, infrastructure, maritime domain awareness (the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, launched May 2022), and the Quad Fellowship.
• The Quad has no secretariat and no treaty; it is not a military alliance. The Malabar naval exercise (begun as India–US in 1992) now includes Japan and Australia, but is separate from the Quad.

IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity) — launched in May 2022 in Tokyo by the US with regional partners. It has four pillars (trade; supply chains; clean economy; fair economy). India joined three pillars but stayed out of the trade pillar.

I2U2 — India, Israel, the UAE and the US; first leaders’ (virtual) summit in July 2022; focus on food security and clean energy.

Eurasia and the emerging economies

SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation):

• Grew from the Shanghai Five (1996) — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan; became the SCO in June 2001 when Uzbekistan joined.
• Secretariat in Beijing; the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
• India and Pakistan became full members in June 2017 (Astana summit); Iran joined in July 2023 under India’s chairship; Belarus in July 2024.
• India’s interests: Central Asian connectivity and energy, counter-terrorism cooperation through RATS, and a seat at a table shared by Russia and China. India has not endorsed the BRI language in SCO declarations.

BRICS:

• The acronym “BRIC” was coined in 2001 by a Goldman Sachs economist; the first leaders’ summit was held at Yekaterinburg (Russia) in 2009. South Africa joined in 2010.
• New Development Bank — agreement signed at Fortaleza (2014); headquarters Shanghai; first president was India’s K.V. Kamath. A Contingent Reserve Arrangement offers liquidity support.
• Expansion: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE joined from January 2024; Indonesia joined in January 2025. The Kazan summit (October 2024) created a partner country category.
• India holds the BRICS chairship in 2026.
• India’s position: supports reform of global institutions, but opposes turning BRICS into an anti-Western bloc and is cautious about a common BRICS currency.

IBSA — India, Brazil, South Africa; Brasilia Declaration, 2003; three large democracies of three continents; runs the IBSA Fund for development projects in other developing countries.

The global level: G20

• Created in 1999 as a forum of finance ministers and central bank governors after the Asian financial crisis; upgraded to leaders’ summits in 2008 (Washington) during the global financial crisis.
• Members: 19 countries, the European Union, and since September 2023 the African Union.
• No permanent secretariat; the rotating presidency is supported by a troika (previous, current and next presidencies).
• India’s presidency (1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023) — New Delhi summit, African Union membership, focus on the Global South (the Voice of the Global South Summit, January 2023), digital public infrastructure, and the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance. An MoU on the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was announced on the sidelines.

Indian Ocean forums

Technology-control regimes

India received an NSG waiver in September 2008, which allowed civil nuclear trade without joining the NPT.

Memory Anchors

SAARC members: “MBBS PAIN” → Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal.

BIMSTEC members: take SAARC, subtract Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Maldives, then add Myanmar and Thailand.

Regime years — one a year: “Missiles, Weapons, Agents” → MTCR 2016 (missiles), Wassenaar 2017 (conventional weapons and dual-use goods), Australia Group 2018 (chemical and biological agents).

Secretariats: SAARC — Kathmandu; BIMSTEC — Dhaka; ASEAN — Jakarta; SCO — Beijing (RATS Tashkent); NDB — Shanghai; IORA — Mauritius; G20 and Quad — none.

One-line Mains hook: “India does not choose between partners; it chooses issues, and finds the right partners for each.”

For Prelims

For Mains

• Dimensions: strategic (balancing China; Indo-Pacific); economic (trade agreements, supply chains, connectivity); developmental (Global South, climate finance, debt); normative (reform of multilateral institutions).
• Keywords: multi-alignment, strategic autonomy, minilateralism, issue-based coalitions, Global South, reformed multilateralism, Act East, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
• Value-addition: India’s G20 presidency and the African Union’s inclusion; the shift from SAARC to BIMSTEC; the Quad’s “positive agenda” (vaccines, technology, maritime awareness); RCEP withdrawal as an example of protecting domestic sectors.

Common Traps

In the News

• September 2023 — G20 New Delhi summit; African Union becomes a permanent member.
• January 2024 — Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE join BRICS; Indonesia follows in January 2025.
• 2026 — India holds the BRICS chairship. Follow summit outcomes in the monthly current affairs.

Practice

Prelims

Mains

Quick Revision

Key Takeaways

Related Topics

• Regional and Global Groupings — quick revision
• International Institutions
• India and the Major Powers
• India and its Neighbourhood
• External Sector and Trade