For decades, the West has played the role of the global professor, perpetually wagging a finger at the Global South, handing out moral report cards, and drafting unsolicited lesson plans on democracy, economics, and human rights. But the lecture hall is finally emptying out. And the students they are flocking to a different classroom, one where Bharat doesn’t just talk, it builds.
This isn’t a victory lap. It’s a shift or a civilizational pivot. The post-colonial world is waking up to the fact that the empire has no clothes. And Bharat, with its ancient ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), is offering something the NATO alliance can’t i.e. respect without paternalism, partnerships without puppeteering, and progress without pressure.
NATO’s Performance: Loud but Hollow
Let’s take a sober look at NATO – the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which still believes it’s the world’s moral compass despite being an aggressive military bloc formed during the Cold War. In the name of “security,” NATO has bombed, destabilized, and intervened in countries across the Global South, from Libya to Afghanistan. But now, the bloc finds itself increasingly irrelevant in a multipolar world.
When African nations turn to Bharat for digital infrastructure, health collaboration, and vaccine diplomacy, they’re not just shopping for deals but they’re opting for dignity. When Latin American leaders voice scepticism about Western loans or interference, it’s not cynicism rather it’s memory. Centuries of colonization have taught these regions to recognize veiled dominance.
Bharat’s Rise: Less Drama, More Dharma
In contrast, Bharat doesn’t roll into countries with tanks and templates. It walks in with tools, teachers, and trade. Its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) model, that is the backbone of its own fintech and governance revolution, is now being offered to the Global South without strings attached. No wonder countries like Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and even nations in Africa are exploring the adoption of Bharat Stack.
Meanwhile, Western aid comes laced with lectures. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants you to cut subsidies and open your markets. Bharat helps you set up a payments system that empowers your poorest. One is conditional while the other is collaborative.
Why the Global South Is Shifting East
Make no mistake – this isn’t about charity. It’s geopolitics with a Dharmic soul. The world is tired of being seen as problems to be fixed. Bharat sees them as partners with potential. Our civilizational worldview doesn’t reduce nations to case studies in a UN report rather it uplifts them as sovereign cultures with histories worth honouring.
Let’s not forget that in the last few years:
- Bharat sent vaccines to 90+ countries under Vaccine Maitri while the West hoarded them.
- Bharat hosted the Voice of Global South Summit, where over 120 countries got a platform. While NATO held closed-door summits with more journalists than Global South participants.
- Bharat’s foreign policy under Neighbourhood First and Act East is rooted in connectivity and cooperation, not conditionality.
BRICS, Not Bricks: Building A New Order
It’s no coincidence that Global South countries are now rallying behind BRICS, a group that, with Bharat’s influence, is being redefined from a mere economic bloc to a civilizational counterbalance to Western dominance. And unlike the exclusive G7, BRICS+ is expanding, welcoming diverse voices from Africa, West Asia, and Latin America.
When the West lectures, it sounds like a colonial rerun. When Bharat speaks, it listens first.
Conclusion: From Empire to Empathy
The Global South is no longer star-struck by Western suits and summits. They’ve seen what happens when you sign on to that elite club, debt traps, cultural erasure, and geopolitical pawn status. What they want now is recognition, not reprimand. Partnership, not patronage.
And Bharat, not with megaphones, but with mantras and mutuality, is finally offering that alternative.
–Meenaal Joshi
