THE rule-based global order is undergoing profound transformation. As Russia and China grow stronger, challenging Western powers and their institutions, and the US engages in deep introspection about its global role, the world is facing mounting geopolitical conflicts and deepening fault lines.
For many in the Global South, including South Africa, this turbulence, marked by calls for reformed multilateralism through platforms like BRICS, the African Union, and the G20, presents both challenges and opportunities.
One coalition of the willing with significant potential to help stabilise this order is the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprising the United States, Japan, Australia, and India. However, India has resisted turning Quad into a formal military alliance, preserving flexibility.
Consequently, India has emerged as a quintessential bridge-builder and balancer in contemporary global affairs. It maintains strategic autonomy, a policy rooted in its Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) heritage, by engaging multiple platforms without formal alliances.
This approach allows India to advance its national interests while positioning itself as a voice for the Global South and a reliable partner for the West.
The current weakening of the global institutions has also created a unique opportunity for India, not just because of its economic size and global presence, but also because of its strategic relations.
India, with its amicable ties with the developing economies and advocacy for South-South cooperation, plays a leadership role for the Global South. At the same time, India is an important strategic partner for the West, with ties with the EU, UK, and the Nordic nations.
Thus, New Delhi’s unique positioning in the global economy enables it to act as a bridge between the North and the South. India has all the potential to reshape the weakening global order and steer it towards a fairer global governance.
India, since the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), has always nudged the global conversations towards global governance and the rule of law. In times when the international order is under a free fall, India has, yet again, a chance to play a key role through Quad (and beyond), in redesigning the global governance by acting as a bridge through restraint and economic resilience.
Thus, India, through Quad, has an immense role to play as a stabiliser in the multipolar world via partnerships, constant manoeuvres for the rule of law, and balancing between the US-led systems, powers like Russia and China, the European powers, and the formidable force for the Global South.
This bridging role is particularly significant for South Africa and the broader African continent, as it aligns with shared aspirations for a more equitable, multipolar order strengthened by platforms such as BRICS, where India assumed the chairmanship in 2026.
The role of Quad in building a free, open, and pluralistic order has long been recognised. The coalition has committed itself to the challenge of shaping order in a highly uncertain regional environment while navigating through the geopolitical conflicts and the “friend or foe” trade-off.
The significance of these four countries lies in their combined economic, technological, and strategic weight, each bringing unique regional strengths to the table. The US provides global leadership, security guarantees, and economic anchoring from its position as the pre-eminent Western power.
Japan acts as a technological and economic powerhouse, anchoring stability in East Asia and contributing advanced innovation and reliable diplomatic engagement.
Australia brings critical resources, strong maritime capabilities, and deep expertise in Indo-Pacific security, serving as a key partner in maintaining open sea lanes and regional resilience.
India, as the largest democracy and a rising economic force, serves as a dynamic bridge between the Global North and South, leveraging its growing economy, strategic autonomy, and longstanding advocacy for equitable global governance.
The bilateral and trilateral ties among the Quad members, their respective relations with other economies, and the inclusive nature of Quad stand to play a role as a force multiplier.
This force focuses on enhancing the resilience of the entire Indo-Pacific region and, subsequently, various regions through interconnections, building regional peace and prosperity.
This group can ensure a balance of power as well as the legitimacy of arrangements underpinning the order through the support of regional economies, making it an effective organisation in its own right, with its economic and strategic prowess and diplomatic persuasion.
It has the ability to act as a crucial and modern geopolitical instrument to work with informality and functional cooperation. Besides, as a provider of tangible public goods to the Indo-Pacific region (like maritime and regional security), it has already established its legitimacy as an effective multilateral organisation, along with maintaining a robust multi-nation security alignment.
More importantly, some believe that it is the role played by India within and beyond Quad that is expected to work as a systemic stabiliser in today’s fractured world. India, as a relatively predictable economy and governance space with increasing economic integration with Western economies as well as the economies of the Global South, makes it a special member of the Quad.
Many experts believe that, as a voice of the Global South while maintaining bilateral ties with many economies across the globe, India is a ‘high-powered’ member of the Quad.
Pundits also argue that India’s balancing role is not fence-sitting but proactive multi-alignment: It deters threats (eg, via Quad), builds coalitions for reform (via BRICS), and promotes a rules-based yet fairer order. For South Africa, this makes India a valuable partner in navigating turbulent times toward a more inclusive multipolar world guided by its own national interests.
* Phapano Phasha is the chairperson of The Centre for Alternative Political and Economic Thought.
** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media.
