A Study Of Modi Government’s Foreign Policy Towards Africa

Building on his predecessor’s government,Modi has continued to strengthen his foreign policy towards Africa,with India-Africa relations entering a "sustained phase of deepening" and the relationship officially upgraded to "strategic partnership" in an official document at the third India-Africa Summit Forum.Compared to the Singh government,the Modi government’s foreign policy towards Africa has been significantly reshaped,elevating the strategic status of Africa in India’s foreign policy and making Africa a priority in India’s foreign and economic policy;changing the previous bias towards economic cooperation and emphasizing that security cooperation is as important as economic cooperation;reaching out more widely to African countries as a whole and engaging in deeper strategic alignment with Africa’s development agenda.The Modi government has deepened its ties with African countries on all fronts by strengthening political relations,deepening economic ties,consolidating defense and security cooperation,and developing cultural diplomacy.This paper finds that the Modi government’s efforts to develop ties with Africa are driven by the fact that Africa is powerful support for the realization of the Modi government’s strategic vision of a "leading power",offers a unique opportunity for India’s economic development,and is a partner in maintaining India’s security and control of the Indian Ocean.At the same time,China’s "One Belt,One Road" project in the Indian Ocean region continues to advance,making India fearful of the expansion of Chinese influence in the region,strengthening ties with African countries is a countermeasure.The rapid warming of relations between India and Africa,driven by Modi,has also had some repercussions.For India,its engagement with African countries has yielded significant gains in the international political,economic,security,and human spheres.For African countries,the Modi government’s foreign policy towards Africa,while bringing real benefits to Africa,could also draw Africa into the ’quagmire’ of geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific region.In the case of China,India is not yet a match for China in Africa.However,Modi will predictably continue to pursue a more active African policy in the future,and India’s continued and deeper proximity to Africa could pose a potential obstacle to the stable development of China-Africa relations.At the same time,India will likely join other partners’ in the Indo-Pacific strategy to develop third-party cooperation in Africa,and the geopolitical environment facing China in Africa will likely deteriorate.