Digital Non-Alignment: India’s DPI Strategy in the Global South

This briefing explains India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Strategy, compares digital power models across China and the US, and explores digital diplomacy. This piece was written by Jian Shin and edited by Tanvi Sureka.

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Introduction

When India hosted the G20 in 2023, it placed an unexpected priority at the centre of the global development agenda: digital infrastructure. But not the kind driven by Silicon Valley’s profit motives or China’s tightly controlled exports. India proposed something different—a cooperative, sovereignty-first approach built on trust, openness, and inclusion. Across Africa and Southeast Asia, countries are racing to modernise their digital systems. In this moment, India has stepped forward with a distinct offer: open-source, affordable tools for digital identity, payments, and data governance. This strategy, known as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), blends technological capability with diplomatic intent. It is not about selling products or exporting influence. It is about enabling nations to build their own systems, on their own terms.

India’s digital journey began at home in the late 2000s with Aadhaar, the world’s largest biometric ID system. That foundation led to a wider ecosystem, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), DigiLocker, and the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA). Together, these tools, collectively known as the India Stack, have revolutionised public service delivery through modular, scalable, and transparent digital systems.

What makes this model remarkable is its replicability. Through initiatives like the Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), India has begun offering these tools to the world, particularly the Global South. These platforms are presented not as exports, but as global public goods: adaptable, consent-based, and designed to respect national sovereignty. In doing so, India is shaping a new kind of tech diplomacy, one that prioritises cooperation over control, and inclusion over influence. DPI is not just a technical framework; it is a statement of values. And increasingly, countries are listening.

Comparing Digital Power Models

As countries expand their digital infrastructure, three distinct approaches have begun to shape the global landscape. Each reflects a different set of values, priorities, and power dynamics. India’s model centres on openness and inclusion. It provides tools that are adaptable, affordable, and designed to work within the legal and cultural frameworks of each country. These platforms are meant to support consent and promote public good rather than commercial gain. At the same time, India still faces challenges at home. Questions around data protection, privacy, and equal access remain, and how these are addressed will affect the credibility of its approach abroad.

China presents a very different model. Its digital infrastructure is highly centralised and tightly controlled by the state. These systems are often bundled with financial support, making them attractive in the short term. However, they have raised serious concerns about surveillance, censorship, and the export of authoritarian practices.

Then there is the approach led by the private sector, especially in the United States. Platforms developed in Silicon Valley are widely used and technologically advanced, but they are built on proprietary systems and driven by profit. Critics argue that these tools prioritise commercial interests over user rights and limit the control that countries have over their own digital ecosystems.

India offers a different path. It is not looking to control or to monetise its digital exports. Instead, it offers countries the freedom to build systems that suit their own needs, using tools that are open, transparent, and respectful of sovereignty. This is where India’s approach stands apart—by focusing on empowerment rather than dependence.

The Global South as Partner

India is strengthening its ties across the Global South by offering digital tools that are not only affordable and easy to use but also built with respect for national sovereignty. Through its approach to Digital Public Infrastructure, India is helping countries create their own digital systems without becoming dependent on large corporations or foreign governments. This model allows nations to choose technologies that reflect their own priorities and build services that meet the needs of their people. It is a shift from dependence to partnership, and from one-size-fits-all solutions to locally shaped systems.

In Africa, countries such as Ethiopia, Morocco, Sierra Leone, and Togo have partnered with India to adopt or adapt MOSIP, its open-source identity platform. These efforts are laying the foundation for national ID programmes and better access to public services. India’s cooperation goes beyond technology. Through its technical training programmes, it is helping build the skills and institutions needed to sustain digital governance from within.

India’s influence is also growing in Southeast Asia. The Philippines has already rolled out MOSIP for its national ID programme, and Vietnam is exploring similar systems based on the Aadhaar framework. Indonesia is working closely with India on issues such as digital payments, cybersecurity, and data protection. Across the region, India is contributing to conversations through platforms like ASEAN and the Quad, helping countries find solutions that are transparent, secure, and suited to local needs.

This approach is supported by the Digital Public Infrastructure Alliance, which brings together partners including the World Bank. The aim is to help countries develop digital systems that are inclusive, sovereign, and free from external political pressure. For many governments in the Global South, India’s model is becoming more than just a technical solution. It is an invitation to build a digital future on their own terms, with support that feels collaborative rather than controlling.

Beyond Soft Power

India’s digital diplomacy extends beyond the traditional ideas of soft power. While cultural exports like cuisine, music, or film shape perception and emotion, digital tools offer something more direct. They improve public services, expand access to finance, and make governance more efficient. Unlike approaches that create dependence, India’s model supports self-reliance. Its digital systems are open, adaptable, and built to fit the needs of different countries. This makes India less of a donor and more of a trusted partner.

By sharing platforms such as DEPA, which gives individuals greater control over their personal data, India is contributing to a more balanced approach to digital governance. This is especially important for countries that have often been excluded from decisions about global technology standards. India’s presence is growing in international forums. In the Digital Public Goods Alliance, it promotes digital systems that are transparent, ethical, and inclusive. These are technologies designed to empower people, not to monitor them or profit from them. For many developing countries, this approach feels both practical and principled.

India and Global Digital Governance

India’s influence in the digital space now reaches well beyond individual partnerships. It is playing a growing role in setting international standards and shaping how digital systems are built and governed.

Through the Digital Public Infrastructure Alliance, India works with organisations like the World Bank to promote open and inclusive digital systems. It contributes both technical expertise and policy guidance, helping to build platforms that are secure, adaptable, and fair. India is also an active voice in the Digital Public Goods Alliance, where it highlights tools such as MOSIP and DEPA as responsible, scalable solutions for a wide range of countries. This contribution is especially important as global debates around artificial intelligence, data, and digital rights are still dominated by a few major powers. India’s G20 presidency in 2023 marked a major step forward. It succeeded in positioning digital infrastructure as a global public good, placing it alongside long-standing priorities like climate, health, and education. Through these efforts, India is showing that it is not just offering technology. It is helping shape the values that will define the digital future.

Conclusion

India’s digital diplomacy is still taking shape, but its direction is clear. What began as an effort to modernise services at home has grown into a broader offer to the world. The offer is based on trust, partnership, and the idea that technology should serve people.

Across the Global South, countries are choosing India’s digital tools not just because they work, but because they represent something deeper. These systems—whether for identity, payments, or data governance—allow nations to build their own digital foundations while keeping control over how they are used. In a world where many digital solutions come with strings attached, India’s approach is standing out.

This strategy is doing more than improving public service delivery. It is helping to reshape how countries relate to one another. By positioning digital infrastructure as a shared resource rather than a product to be sold, India is opening the door to a more cooperative form of global technology leadership.

India’s presidency of the G20 in 2023 helped bring this vision into focus. It placed digital infrastructure alongside priorities like health, education, and climate, and made the case that technology can be both inclusive and sovereign. But as India takes on a larger role, it must also confront challenges at home. Concerns around data privacy, inclusion, and transparency persist. If India wants to lead by example, it will need to ensure its own systems are fair and accountable.

Still, the promise of India’s model is compelling. It offers a path forward that avoids dominance and dependency. It suggests that digital influence does not have to come from power or profit. It can come from collaboration, from respect, and from a belief in shared progress.

As artificial intelligence and digital security become central to global debates, India’s commitment to ethical and user-focused systems could help shape a more balanced digital future. If that commitment holds, India may not just participate in the next phase of global governance, it may help define it.