Unpacks the histories, actors and geopolitics of India's soft power and evolving engagements with Africa.Since independence India has deployed its soft power in Africa, with educational aid and capacity-building at the heart of its Africa policy. However, following economic liberalisation and in a quest for greater global influence, India's geopolitics have changed. The country's discourse on Africa has shifted from the mantras of post-colonial solidarity and South-South Cooperation, and there is now a growing sense of Indian exceptionalism, as the country reimagines its past and future against the growing influence of the political right. In this book scholars from India, Africa, Europe and North America show how India's soft power has been implemented by the diaspora, government and private sector. Research documents how India's 'aid' has been re-thought in major schemes such as e-global education and health, Gandhi statuary and Covid-19 diplomacy in Africa.

Introduction: India-Africa Now: Changing Imaginaries and Knowledge ParadigmsMeera Venkatachalam and Kenneth KingPART 1: The Geopolitical Imaginary and Soft Power1. India's Soft Power in East Africa: Opportunities and Challenges Muhidin J. Shangwe2. Between Business and Balance: India-Japan in Africa vis-à-vis ChinaMrittika Guha Sarkar and Jagannath Panda PART 2: The Indian Political Right and the Reconfiguration of Soft Power in Africa3. The Indian Political Right, Soft Power, and the Reimagination of AfricaMeera Venkatachalam4. Modi and the Mahatma - The Politics of Statues and the Saffronisation of India-Africa relationsSimona VittoriniPART 3: Capacity building: Shifting Modalities and New Knowledgescapes5. India's Changing Human Resource Diplomacy with Africa, and Africa's ResponsesKenneth King6. A Shining Example: Modelling Growth in India's Pan-African e-NetworkVincent Duclos7. Partnership in Times of Pandemic: India's Covid Diplomacy with a Lens on AfricaSupriya Roychoudhury and Emma MawdsleyPART 4: Skilling, Knowledge Transfer, and Indo-African Interactions8. Precarious Partnerships: Tanzanian Entrepreneurs of Asian and African DescentJacqueline Halima Mgumia and Chambi Chachage9. The Trumpets and Travails of South-South Cooperation: African Students in India since the 1940sGerard McCannConclusion: Reflections on India-Africa Studies, Development Cooperation, and Soft PowerKenneth King and Meera Venkatachalam