Date: Sep 07, 2026Time:03:30 PM
The ongoing Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which led to the postponement of the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS IV), serves as a stark reminder of the growing intersection between global health and geopolitics. Infectious diseases, health emergencies, and pandemics increasingly shape diplomatic engagements, trade, security, mobility, and development cooperation. Health can no longer be viewed as a peripheral concern of foreign policy; rather, it has emerged as a critical pillar of diplomacy and international engagement.
Further, the global health architecture is changing – marked by the retrenchment of external financing and growing uncertainty around multilateral health institutions – exposing the risks of over-reliance on a narrow set of donors. This evolving landscape underscores the importance of investing in resilient health systems, strengthening supply chains, and fostering new forms of international cooperation. As negotiations over the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system continue, India and African countries can leverage their shared interests to advance health security and contribute to shaping a more equitable and inclusive global health architecture.
Against this backdrop, ORF is convening a select group of experts from the fields of global health, foreign policy, international relations, development cooperation, and African affairs to explore the critical inflection points shaping health diplomacy today. The discussion will examine how health crises influence geopolitical relations, identify opportunities for deeper India–Africa cooperation in health security, and consider actionable policy pathways for positioning global health as a strategic instrument of diplomacy, development, and partnership in the twenty-first century.
- Examine the intersection of health, diplomacy, and geopolitics, and how health emergencies are increasingly shaping foreign policy, security, trade, and development cooperation.
- Explore opportunities to strengthen India–Africa cooperation on health security, including through resilient health systems, supply chains, pharmaceutical capacity, and South-South collaboration.
- Identify actionable pathways for navigating the changing global health architecture, including the role India can play in advancing health security and sustainable development across Africa.
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