India's leadership of the Global South is increasingly expressed through technology partnerships rather than rhetoric. Examine with reference to DAKSHIN.

India first voiced its claim to lead the Global South at the Voice of Global South Summits (VOGSS). That claim now has an institution behind it: DAKSHIN (Development And Knowledge Sharing Initiative), inaugurated at the 2nd VOGSS [2]. The move towards technology partnerships is real, but India's capacity to deliver still lags behind its stated intent.

From summit rhetoric to institutions

• DAKSHIN is hosted at RIS, New Delhi. It gives the summit commitments a permanent Centre of Excellence [1][2].
• Its mandate is to provide affordable, locally relevant solutions through technology transfer and joint strategies, so that partner countries make faster progress on the SDGs [1].

Technology partnerships in action

• CSIR–DAKSHIN Letter of Association (November 2026): CSIR offers ready-to-deploy, adaptable technologies in healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, the blue economy and the digital economy [1].
• Agriculture: ICRISAT and RIS launched ISSCA in 2025, and ICRISAT signed an MoU with DAKSHIN [3].
• Appropriate technology: solutions are adapted to local conditions, guided by collective self-reliance. This sets India apart from partners who offer costly, debt-heavy packages [1].
• Capacity building: human resource development, skill upgrading and entrepreneurship in partner countries [1].

Limits: intent still outpaces delivery

• Weak transfer at home: the Standing Committee on Science and Technology (2021) found a gap between what industry needs and what labs produce. NITI Aayog (2018) found that CSIR's rate of technology transfer was low [4].
• Weak commercialisation: CSIR licences created 148 startups over three years, but these paid only ₹142.67 lakh in royalty and premia [5].
• No budget: the Letter of Association records intent only and names no funds [1]. Most Indian development money flows through 300+ Lines of Credit worth about US$32 billion to 68 countries, mostly for infrastructure [6].
• Unclear IP rules: CSIR earns royalties, but DAKSHIN promises affordability. It is also unsettled who owns a technology once a partner country improves it.

Way forward

• Publish a sector-wise list of Global-South-ready technologies with targets, as CSIR did with Laghu Udyog Bharati ("100 technologies in 100 days") [7].
• Add CSIR technologies to Line of Credit projects that are already approved [6]. Bring in multilateral co-funders for pilot projects.
• Measure technologies in use and local production, not the number of agreements signed.

Overall, DAKSHIN has begun to turn India's role as the voice of the Global South into working technology partnerships. If it is backed by funding, clear IP terms and measurable results, it can make India a trusted development partner. That would match the spirit of SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) and India's ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.