74

Since gaining independence in August 1947, India’s foreign policy has been marked by a strong commitment to multiple forms of multilateral cooperation. This commitment is reflected in practice by strong activism in formal and broad international organizations such as the UN but also in parallel in more flexible and semi-formal forms of cooperation such as clubs bringing together other regional powers like Brazil, India and South Africa or the G20 countries. This article, which focuses on the period 1947-2014, first introduces the evolutions of South-South diplomacy in India, and then analyzes the functions and uses of India’s engagement in selective forums. the image of emerging clubs such as the India-Brazil-South Africa Forum and the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa Forum, and how India’s participation in these selective structures contributes to enlarge its political leeway. This article will then critically analyse how this active participation is, however, limited by regional competition between India and China and by a deficit of structural capacities.