Global South
Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Global South is a loose name for the developing countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania. It is not a formal organisation. It has no treaty, no headquarters and no fixed list of members. What these countries share is a history of colonial rule, a need for development, and a wish for a fairer say in world bodies like the UN. India often presents itself as the voice of the Global South, for example through the Voice of Global South Summits. This role grows out of its older Afro-Asian and non-aligned diplomacy.
Example
The roots go back to the Bandung Conference of newly free Asian and African states (April 1955) and the first Non-Aligned Movement summit at Belgrade (1961). In 2021, at the UN General Assembly, India joined the G77 and NAM statement against the US embargo on Cuba. It said the embargo weakens multilateralism, meaning countries working together through shared rules and forums.
Don't confuse with
- Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): a formal group of states with members and summits, founded at Belgrade in 1961 to stay out of Cold War military blocs. The Global South is only a broad label for developing countries, with no membership or bloc rule.
- Middle power: a state below superpower rank that gains influence through diplomacy and coalitions. That label is about a country's power, while the Global South is about a country's development and shared history, so a country can be both.