Global India: The Pursuit of Influence and Status

The Nordic Asia Podcast

In 2023, India surpassed China in numbers of total population and holds the presidency of the prestigious G20, shortly after it overtook the UK as the world’s fifth largest economy in terms of GDP. Simultaneously, various actors are courting India's favour for international policy projects, such as the adoption of ambitious climate targets or peace plans for the war in Ukraine. Given India’s rise, the volume Global India: The Pursuit of Influence and Status (Routledge, 2023) focuses on the different manifestations of India's role in the world as well as its own multi-layered identity.

To what extent do BJP Hindu nationalism and Narendra Modi’s leadership play into India’s global role?

How is India's approach assessed by domestic, regional, and global audiences?

Does India's role as a regional and global power materialise in the global climate regime?

Simon Kaack has recently completed his Master’s in Human Rights Studies at Lund University, in which he focused on human rights in Southeast Asia, ASEAN’s institutionalisation and its relationship with the EU. As a student assistant at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies he worked on the global climate regime and future politics, particularly in the context of India.

He discusses the book and the issues raised therein with its editor Chris Ogden and author Miriam Prys-Hansen.

Chris Ogden is Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor in Asian Security at the School of International Relations within the University of St. Andrews. His research analyses the relationship between national identity, security and domestic politics in South Asia (primarily India) and East Asia (primarily China), as well as the rise of great powers, authoritarianism in global politics, and China’s coming world order.

Miriam Prys-Hansen is Lead Research Fellow and Head of the Research Programme "Global Orders and Foreign Policies" at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies. Within her work, Miriam focuses on regional and emerging powers, such as the BRICS states, as well as global and regional environmental politics and the global climate regime, specifically regarding India’s role therein.