On a recent visit to Tanzania, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced the establishment of the first overseas campus of the premier Indian Institute of Technology Madras on its islands of Zanzibar in Africa. The choice of Zanzibar is significant: 180 years ago, it was the very first interface between Indian merchants and the East African mainland.

India’s rise as a global player is linked to the kind of relationship it enjoys with African countries, especially as the latter is undergoing demographic, political, and socioeconomic transitions. A new report on the India-Africa partnership recommends a resilient ‘Africa policy’ that will collectively enhance diplomatic, defense, cultural, and developmental collaboration between the two countries.

While India must do justice to its diverse responsibilities as steward to the G20, it has a special duty and priority: to advance the Africa agenda while serving as a powerful bridge between the developed and developing parts of the world.

India is currently hosting the Voice of Global South Summit, in which over 120 countries will participate. This is the time, as G20 chair, for India to articulate the concerns of the Global South. To truly represent the South, India must understand the moods and changes in Africa, especially in its external partnerships