India’s Post-2014 Space Diplomacy and Leadership in the Global South

Since 2014, India has reoriented its space programme from a development-centric model to a strategic tool of foreign policy, particularly aimed at asserting leadership in the Global South. This article investigates how India’s post-2014 space diplomacy aligns with broader geopolitical shifts and foreign policy goals. Employing qualitative content analysis of secondary sources from government documents, multilateral agreements, and academic literature, the study explores India’s deployment of space initiatives—including the South Asia Satellite, capacity-building programs like UNNATI, and military advancements such as the Defence Space Agency—as instruments of diplomatic influence. Framed under the normative power theory, neoclassical realism, and constructivism, the paper finds that India’s space diplomacy emphasizes public goods provision, multilateral cooperation, and technological sovereignty, while also responding to regional security concerns, particularly regarding China. This dual approach allows India to position itself as both a cooperative peer and an emerging space power. However, limitations in resources, bureaucratic inertia, and geopolitical rivalry constrain its ability to fully institutionalize leadership in the Global South. The article concludes that India’s evolving space strategy represents a hybrid model—blending realist calculations with normative posturing—that reflects its ambition to shape global space governance and reassert its identity as a leader among developing nations.