Both AU and the UN have identified clear areas where the capacities for counter-terrorism in Africa have been found wanting. India is in a position to share and build capacities in areas of its competence and comfort. Such help would be along the lines of the Indian policy of building state capacities. Having grappled with terrorism in a democratic set-up, India is also in a position to share its experience of making law enforcement systems respect the fundamental rights of human beings.

An analysis of India in global governance showcases India as a versatile actor. Its role in the governance of different issue areas namely climate change, development assistance, trade and disarmament has been tempered by the nature of the regime in each case.

Indian interventions on the subject of peacekeeping is a testimony to its abiding interest not only in the workings of the peacekeeping mechanism but also in the global governance of peacekeeping.

Existing scholarship on India’s strategic culture pronounces on it either based almost entirely on India’s post-independence strategic behaviour with some references to the pre-independence period or on select historical experiences and texts. For a large part of its history, however, the Indian sub-continent has been under ‘regional’ rulers, ranging from small to very large kingdoms. There are traditions that emanate from them that are as much part of the Indian strategic culture as the pan-Indian phenomena.

The Financing for Development (FFD) process and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) process are some of the recent events in the realm of economic multilateralism in the United Nations (UN). India, on its part, has always engaged with the UN and global multilateral processes. This study seeks to focus on India’s diplomacy on FFD and SDGs in the context of its long history of engaging with global economic governance through the UN.

India has demonstrated a bold commitment to multilateralism. On all three parameters – ideational, diplomatic and institutional – India’s role is a continuation of a long lineage. As for the implementation of SDGs, India is trying to ensure that its impressive growth trickles down to the last man standing through proactive state interventions.

Associate Fellow, IDSA, Dr Arpita Anant’s Op-Ed piece on ‘UN Security Council Reform has been published in the Marathi newspaper ‘Sakal’ on July 17, 2019.

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What pales the counter-terrorism regime is not that its procedures are cumbersome or that its working is not transparent, but that it only selectively raises the cost for those who inflict terror.

An increased level of engagement of the G20 with Africa could be significant as it could activate the existing G20 initiatives. It is also significant because it proposes to venture into new and critical areas such as skill development of women and rural youth, as well as a focus on renewable energy which are fundamental to capitalise on increased private investment.

At the very least, the decision on text-based negotiations has brought some more
legitimacy to the process of reform. However, there is no guarantee yet that
Security Council reform is any closer or any less complicated.