GS Paper 2 12.5 marks · 200w 14 min Hard
Increasing interest of India in Africa has its pros and cons. Critically examine.
Subtopic: International Relations · India–Africa engagement
How to structure your answer
Introduction → Scale of engagement → Pros: energy security, markets, development partnership, geopolitical dividends → Cons: delivery deficit, China asymmetry, perception setbacks → Net assessment → Conclusion
Written within the word limit
225 words · target 200 words · 14 min
Context
India's Africa engagement has scaled up sharply: the third India–Africa Forum Summit (2015) hosted all 54 African states, bilateral trade stands around USD 100 billion, and India has extended over USD 12 billion in concessional Lines of Credit across the continent.
Pros
- Energy and resource security: hydrocarbons from Nigeria and Angola, minerals and phosphates critical for industry and fertilisers.
- Markets and investment: affordable Indian pharmaceuticals, automobiles, IT and telecom services find a young, growing middle-class demand across the continent.
- Development-partnership goodwill: ITEC training, the Pan-African e-Network and its successors (e-VidyaBharti tele-education, e-ArogyaBharti telemedicine) build human capital, contrasting with extractive models.
- Geopolitical dividends: African support for UNSC reform; India championed the African Union's permanent G20 membership (2023); cooperation on Indian Ocean security and anti-piracy.
- A roughly three-million-strong diaspora anchors the relationship.
Cons
- Delivery deficit: Line-of-Credit projects suffer delays and cost overruns, eroding credibility.
- Asymmetric competition: China's Africa trade (around USD 280 billion) and BRI infrastructure spending dwarf Indian capacity.
- Trade remains import-skewed towards crude oil and raw commodities, with limited value addition within Africa — inviting the same extractive critique India levels at others.
- Racist attacks on African students in India (2016–17) damaged goodwill; the diplomatic footprint stays thin despite 18 new missions announced in 2018.
Conclusion
The pros outweigh the cons provided India plays to its differentiator — the demand-driven, consultative partnership codified in the ten Kampala Principles (2018) — and fixes project delivery rather than attempting to out-spend China.
What an examiner expects to see
- Engagement institutionalised: IAFS-III (2015) with all 54 African states, trade around USD 100 billion, over USD 12 billion in concessional Lines of Credit.
- Strategic gains: energy and mineral security, pharma and automobile markets, African support for UNSC reform, Indian Ocean maritime-security cooperation.
- India's capacity-building model — ITEC, Pan-African e-Network, e-VidyaBharti/e-ArogyaBharti — is demand-driven and contrasts with extractive or debt-heavy approaches.
- Cons: LoC project delays and cost overruns erode credibility; China's trade (~USD 280 billion) and BRI spending dwarf India's resources; trade is skewed to crude imports.
- Racist attacks on African students (2016–17) and a thin diplomatic footprint hurt goodwill despite 18 new missions announced in 2018.
- India converted goodwill into institutional voice by championing the African Union's permanent G20 membership during its 2023 presidency; the Kampala Principles (2018) define the partnership template.
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- India–Africa Forum Summit III, New Delhi (2015), attended by all 54 African countries
- Pan-African e-Network and its successors e-VidyaBharti and e-ArogyaBharti
- African Union admitted as a permanent G20 member during India's 2023 presidency
- Prime Minister's ten Kampala Principles for India–Africa engagement (2018)
- Asia-Africa Growth Corridor proposed with Japan (2017)
Terminology to weave into the answer
Lines of CreditSouth-South cooperationITECKampala Principlesdevelopment partnershipAsia-Africa Growth Corridor