INTRODUCTION

India's global governance role has improved tremendously since attaining independence because it has marked its strategic alignments in multilateral organisations. For the purpose of this study, India's engagements in three core international institutions, namely the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the Group of Twenty (G20), were studied to identify their impact on international governance. In doing so, focusing on these institutions, this paper makes a specific analysis of India's diplomatic options, policy inputs, and problems, instead of presenting an overview of global governance. India contributed to the creation of the UN and spoke up for postcolonial states' inclusion in global governance at the 1945 San Francisco Conference historically 1. Established after World War II, the UN Security Council was empowered to preserve international peace and security, but its composition has not changed much, with the same five permanent members. As there are increasingly loud calls for reforms to match the enlarged UN membership and increase legitimacy, negotiations have been stalled by competing national interests as well as rivalries for permanent seats. My thesis examines the reasons for this standoff, critiques important reform proposals such as those made by Kofi Annan in 2005 and provides recommendations for advancing the reform agenda to establish a more representative and accountable Council 2. India has become an advocate of the developing world within the WTO, pushing for trade justice and equitable global economic policy 3. The G20, comprising its 19 member nations and the European Union, is the most influential global platform for economic cooperation internationally. India's 2023 presidency was historic in propelling its rising status on the global level. As one of the world's emerging and fastest-growing economies, India used its presidency to promote inclusive growth and financial stability as well as sustainable growth. The agenda clearly included the top priorities, such as health, education, infrastructure, and equitable global recovery. The Indian presidency reaffirmed its support for building an earlier, equal, and more resilient world economic order 4. The paper critically analyses India's achievement and failure in these institutions because it shows how its diplomatic agendas and institutional peripheries intersect. The paper also elucidates how India's economic and political growth enhances its voice in redefining world governance despite ongoing challenges. By focusing on the UN, WTO, and G20, this analysis offers a concentrated examination of India's contribution to international norms and rules. This is structured as follows: First, it provides a theoretical overview of global governance and India's historical position in international organisations. Second, it reviews India's participation in the UN, WTO, and G20, focusing on its achievements and shortcomings. Third, it addresses how India can contribute to future international governance and has suggestions to enhance its status in international bodies.

STUDY OBJECTIVES

The study objective is:

• Assess India's Contributions to International Organisations : To assess India's performance in the UN, WTO, and G20 on the basis of its diplomacy, policy outreach, and institutional activism.

• Identify Institutional and Geopolitical Constraints: To analyse the institutional constraints, power asymmetry, and domestic constraints that are disincentives for India to have greater influence in multilateral institutions.

• Examining Future Strategic Options: Define the new role of India in global leadership and suggest measures to enhance leadership in global platforms of high significance.

METHODOLOGY

This research applies a qualitative review research approach that entails literature review, document analysis, and case study to critically analyse India's participation in international organisations and global governance. Peer-reviewed literature was retrieved from academic databases like Google Scholar, JSTOR, and Scopus on empirical and theoretical literature covering India's participation at the UN. WTO, and G20. Thematic content analysis of policy briefs, official reports, and international agreements was conducted to assess India's contributions towards peacekeeping, efforts in trade negotiations, and role in international economic policymaking. Case studies were used to draw attention to India's diplomatic forays, particularly its pursuit of a permanent membership on the UN Security Council, as well as its impact on multilateral climate and trade policies. The multi-source research guaranteed accuracy, reliability, and critical examination of India's strategic positioning on global governance.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INDIA'S PARTICIPATION IN THE G20

In the discussion of the study, this paper offers a review of current literature with respect to India's engagement in the G20. The review is comprised of a set of studies and analyses that outline its role and contributions in the G20 framework, trusting global economic governance, collaborative initiatives, and challenges associated with this honour as a G20 country. This paper will attempt to provide an all-round understanding of India's strategic interests, its relationship with other member countries, and how it shapes the G20's priorities by exploring different views and conclusions drawn in the literature. Considering the understanding of India's involvement in the G20 in relation to China's engagement as well as the institutional framework of BRICS, the new emerging dynamics reveal convergences and divergences between these two emerging superpowers 27. Both are status-seeking and hedging in nature but differ between caution and aggression over issues of national interests: China is cautious but assertive, whereas India remains narrowly focused on developmental issues. India's policy is turning China-centric while being completely at variance with China, which remains U.S. and West-centric. A recent article develops the way China and India manage these conflicting self-identities of rising power against their commitment to strong ties with the Global South. Ambivalence is key to explaining their complicated relationship 28. Though both manage it similarly, significant differences arise while India's identity is in fact a battle between exceptionalism and universalism, China exhibits pragmatic decision-making. In this regard, according to 29, India would come in handy as it is an influential player in the world's economy, especially at a time it shall take over the G20 presidency in 2023. The rapid growth in economies puts India in the position of playing a critical role regarding international trade as well as financial stability and development on the G20 agenda. The governance and management capabilities are essential and irreplaceable in the reduction of carbon emissions with a view to fully maximizing human well-being. They focused on low-carbon innovation and environmental governance, especially to China 30, 31. This new trend goes well with India's transformation from a traditionally inward-looking country to an increasingly outward-bound international leader. India's emerging role as a new power in global governance reflects a profound sense of change within the world system-from being a unipolar to a multipolar structure-that is more difficult for the traditional powers and institutions of the world 32, 33. Meanwhile, India's re-emergence on the world map is still contested, particularly regarding its uneven compliance with international responsibility. 34, identifies that, in practice, G7 powers remain the major players while India looks to gain more influence in multilateral institutions. 35, for example, goes ahead to reveal that domestic issues of civil society in India matters in its foreign policy role. The fact that India remains determined to have a permanent UN member and increasing representation in other such bodies like the G20 makes its position believable as a power player. Lastly, 36 points to India's multilateral interaction as important for the role that it plays in the G20, pointing out that addressing the domestic challenges particularly the task at hand on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This new trend goes well with India's transformation from a traditionally inward-looking country to an increasingly outward-bound international leader. India's emerging role as a new power in global governance reflects a profound sense of change within the world system-from being a unipolar to a multipolar structure-that is more difficult for the traditional powers and institutions of the world 32, 33. Meanwhile, India's re-emergence on the world map is still contested, particularly regarding its uneven compliance with international responsibility.

INDIA AS A RISING RESPONSIBLE POWER

India's emergence in the global landscape is based on democratic government, economic growth, and strategic diplomacy consistent with the postulates of multilateralism and inclusiveness in global governance. This progress is reflected in its dynamic engagement in all the significant international fora including G20, BRICS, and the UN. Initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance and India's contribution to global peacekeeping speak to a desire to take on greater responsibility in dealing with global challenges 27, 37. India's new strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific as part of its balancing power approach also underscores its role as a stabilizing force in a region marked increasingly by the rising primacy of China. Keeping with this responsible approach, India further emphasizes its commitment to reforming global governance institutions, especially the UN Security Council, where it seeks permanent membership as a reflection of the contemporary power dynamics and thus essentially perpetuating its commitment to a multipolar world order were emerging powers, including itself and China, contribute to more balanced global authority 38. This is also because of India's thrust for sustainable development, climate change, and counterterrorism, especially in looking after human security and the pertinent environmental stewardship agenda internationally.

CRITICISM OF INDIA'S SPOTTY HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Despite all this, however, India's past record on assuming the responsibilities of international responsibilities is patchy. As an independent nation, India opted for a policy of non-alignment which, by its very nature, often resulted in avoiding taking sides in international conflicts; it was in this sense that India also limited its scope of roles as a participant in the global governance of international affairs. Indeed, some critics have argued that India's reluctance to participate in collective security arrangements, like NATO or other similar formal military alliances, stems from its own aversion not to be too presumptuous about assuming international responsibilities. But economic protectionism as followed by India and its unambivalence in embracing global free trade agreements, like the RCEP, does pose questions to commitment to integration into the global economy 39, 40. Such an ambivalence appears to be in defence of national interests over provision of global public goods at a time when India is growing ambitious on the world stage. India's selective engagement on specific international norms, once again more so in terms of non-proliferation and climate change negotiations, betray anomalies. India has, through the ISA and the Paris Agreement, shown commitment to such negotiations on climate change but will use much of coal and show reluctance on the question of binding reduction targets on emissions, emphasizing the contradiction between developmental necessity and international environmental expectation 41.

INDIA’S POTENTIAL TO SHAPE THE RULES AND NORMS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

This section examines the research work in terms of India's potential to shape the norms and rules of the international system. We understand that this rising power was distinct in its diplomatic strategies and enthusiastically participated in multilateral organizations. We examined the cause through historical influence, which further fueled cultural influences and economic development to shape India's potential to shape global governance frameworks. With reference to diverging views of scholars, this chapter sought to throw collective light on the role of India in defining international norms and rules according to the current international power dynamics. The rise of nations such as China, India, and Brazil continues to challenge at a burgeoning rate the historical supremacy of global economic governance by the United States. While their growth is often touted as one founded on economic strength, according to the author, the development of these powers is complex and multifaceted. The large rising powers, Brazil and India, derived much of their initial basis for growth from leading coalitions of other developing nations. In contrast, the main impetus behind China's rise has been its economic power. Consequently, Brazil and India have assumed a much more assertive role in WTO negotiations than China and have profoundly impacted the agenda of the Doha Round 42, 43. The paper, which underlines the need to identify and categorize the separate tracks and trends of these emerging powers in the global economics system, also highlighted the fact that the influence of these upcoming powers is not just an economic push but could be a much broader concept. More than that, the report presents the idea that most IGOs are now embracing adaptation strategies for climate change; however, efforts are more local and, thus, insufficiently mainstreamed. 44 analyse these strategies across ten issue areas; they find that discursive mainstreaming is most implemented, while budget allocations and policy changes are less often utilized. The analysis of India's role in BRICS establishes that the participation is a part of a greater strategy meant to engage powerful nations for geopolitical and economic benefits. In BRICS, India wants to enhance its status and looks at the tension in border with China, wherein the problem of contest borders has been an old issue. Historically, India had an influence on the post-World War global governance structure way higher than its other newly independent counterparts and established itself as a moral leader. Despite weak power status in the Cold War period, India uses liberalization from 1991 to practice more major influence in international organizations concerned with areas like trading, climate change, and nuclear non-proliferation. It has therefore been characterized as a democratic actor in the liberal global order 45, 46. 47 Talks about India's influential participation in foundational UN events, particularly its leadership in the decolonization efforts, where India co-sponsored the Declaration on Colonial Independence with others in 1960.

Based on case studies of NGOs such as the Crucible Group and TRAFFIC, the author defines five pivotal roles that civil society can play in international environmental governance; but institutional means for the involvement of NGOs within the UN are scarce. The author concludes by calling for a better institutional framework that will cover more systematic and structured NGO participation in international policymaking, for instance through the development of something like a "commission" model, and with commensurately increased financial support for NGO initiatives.

CHALLENGES FACED BY INDIA IN GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

In this section of the research, we had discussed articles by researchers on the challenges that India faces in global governance. This analysis was on the multi-faceted obstacles that India faces in projecting itself on the international scene. Among the facets were the geopolitical rivalry with neighbouring countries, relative or comparative economic disparities, and the other more complex ones related to dealing in multilateral institutions. We assessed the Indian approach to priorities such as climate change, security, and economic inequality issues which have been productive enough in its performance in global governance. By incorporating insights from a range of scholarly perspectives, this chapter established a more holistic outline to elements that impeded India's engagement and influence over global governance frameworks. Gidney refers to the point that Indian delegation contested the provisions of the ILO by contesting the idea that is industrial in relevance. It introduces the high speed at which international institutions are adapting to growing politicization of their roles underlines how technical organizations must strike a balance between technicality and politics 48. The article also addressed how BRIC nations-including Brazil, Russia, India, and China-are changing global governance, noting that, since the 2008 crisis, "they have significantly shaped global discourse on financial reform" but that very little emphasis was put on their role in global energy governance. The researchers found that the BRICs cannot be included in the International Energy Agency as they are the ones that consume the most energy worldwide. According to 20, examines problems BRIC faces as leader in reforms of global governance, claims that although G20 diplomacy is in fact a diplomacy of difference, still sustains oligarchic tendencies. 49, claim that, rather than challenging it, a diplomacy’s mode of practice is likely to be the principal explanatory variable of why little significant change does occur in global governance. 50, claims that global governance is a necessity for the moment due to the complexities of the international challenges that range from climate change. The loss of ecosystems in such high speed is partially attributed to the poor land governance since much growth has been seen in GEG. 51 Posits that SLG is a dynamic adaptive framework facilitating responses that answer land management challenges affecting GEG and fostering sustainable development through social justice.

DISCUSSION

India has emerged as a major actor in global governance, balancing its ancient heritage with contemporary geopolitics. India has been a vocal champion of Global South interests since independence in issues from decolonisation and non-alignment to economic justice. In the 21st century, however, its strategic stakes have expanded to encompass global interests like climate change, international trade, and nuclear non-proliferation. India's multilateralism and democratic ethos position it both as a bridge between the Global South and the North, as well as the world's prime norm-maker and institution-builder. India and the United Nations: India has been a hyperactive UN member state since its establishment, working day and night towards peace, development, and equality. It has been committed to anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles and has contributed much to UN peacekeeping operations too. India is still floating outside permanent UNSC membership, a major hindrance to its universal ambitions. The Indian drive for UNSC reform is an expression of the evolving multipolar reality, but opposition from current permanent members has so far stalled the process. Nevertheless, India's engagement with the UN remains essential, particularly in combating climate change, counterterrorism, and sustainable development.

India and the WTO: As an emerging economic powerhouse, India's entry into the WTO revolves around its desire for a more equitable world trade practice. India has been a strong advocate of an equitable and just trading order, always playing the role of a voice for developing countries in agricultural subsidy matters, intellectual property rights, and market access. Its Doha Development Agenda negotiation leadership has positioned it as a Global South champion. Indian stands have often been at odds with those of other world powers and have created complex trade talks. Although India has been able to stave off some of the trade liberalisation policies that would injure its home-based industries, India stands in the WTO remain vulnerable to competing national and international economic interests.

India and the G20: Indian G20 membership have also solidified its role as a global economic governance actor. The G20 offers a forum for India to advance its positions regarding financial stability, climate action, and sustainable development. Since the 2008 economic meltdown, India has been an active player in shaping strategies for economic revival globally and advocating for change within global economic institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. India's ability to drive change-orientated reforms in the G20 is, however, constrained by cross-cutting interests of dominant world economies. This notwithstanding, Indian leadership on the Global Biofuels Alliance and green development finance reflects its growing stake in economic governance.

Challenges and Opportunities: India has made impressive strides in international institutions, but a number of challenges cut against it having greater influence. The absence of a UN permanent seat remains an open link missing in the international standing of India. In the context of multilateral trade negotiations, Indian apprehension about protecting its domestic economy in certain instances places India at variance with both the developed nations and developing nations alike. Two, China's increasing assertiveness in multilateral platforms such as the BRICS and G20 creates geopolitical issues for India. Internal domestic issues such as economic inequality and energy security are also there to limit India's capacity to play an active role in global governance. Even in the face of these limitations, India's focus on multilateralism and strategic partnerships with other world great powers leaves room for increasing its role in global governance. With its economic and geopolitical resources, India has the potential to contribute to shaping international standards of trade, security, and green sustainability. For enhancing its role in the world, India must follow a balanced strategy that bridges national interests and greater international goals, find consensus in multilateral forums, and build leadership in sustainable development and digitalisation.

Conclusion: India's global leadership is of promises and limitations. Though it has been a leadership figure at the UN, WTO, and G20, it is yet to translate its influence into meaningful institutional reforms. Transposing structural and geopolitical barriers with diplomatic finesse, economic reforms, and multilateral coordination would be the impetus for India's aspirations to become a massive world power. Follow-up studies must look into India's changing strategies in global institutions and investigate ways of making it a world-order influencer.

CONCLUSION

India's new global governance role reflects its increasing economic power, strategic ambition, and commitment to a multipolar world order. As an emerging power, India has attempted to balance its own national interests with a broader responsibility to represent the Global South, leveraging its democratic legitimacy and multilateral activities to challenge the current order. Its active engagement in global bodies like the United Nations, WTO, and G20 reflects its willingness to shape global discourse on important issues like trade, climate action, and security reforms. However, India's path to world leadership is beset with systemic challenges. The perennial stumbling blocks to India's desire for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council are reflective of the entrenched resistance to reforming global institutions in the interests of emerging powers. Structural asymmetries in the world system and resistance from powerful actors persist to block India's capacity to lead revolutionary transformations. In addition, its geostrategic competition with China imposes an additional complication, wherein the two countries are in a contest of influence within multilateral fora, which very often leads to strategic divergence rather than cooperation. But through all these complications, India is an essential actor to influence the future course of global governance. With support of institutional reforms, formation of strategic partnerships, and striking the tightrope between sovereignty and global responsibility, India is a core player in the new world order. The reason why it maintains its influence is its ability to consolidate leadership in the Global South while engaging positively with traditional powers. While the global system is facing evolving power arrangements, India's contribution will not merely be determined by its aspirations but by how effectively it can translate them into tangible global leadership that informs the 21st-century norms and institutions.