Satellites as Soft-power Tool with Partner Nations

August 9, 2026

India’s space cooperation agreement with Seychelles is the latest example of a decade-long diplomatic push that uses space as a durable instrument of foreign diplomacy.

On its own, India’s space cooperation agreement with Seychelles in late June 2026 may look like a routine technical arrangement. But seen alongside a decade of similar moves, it reveals one of the quietest transformations in India’s foreign policy.

The pact covers ocean observation, marine science and coastal management, the report said, pointing to a template of similar satellite-based services offered over the last decade on generous terms to partner states.

Seen against India’s wider diplomatic toolkit of the past decade, this list looks less like a series of disconnected bilateral deals and more like one strand of a much larger project.

New Delhi, since 2014, has built an entire soft-power portfolio around modest, practical initiatives presented as goodwill rather than strategy.

In May 2017, India launched the South Asia Satellite, a geosynchronous communications platform that Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a “gift” to neighbours, providing telemedicine, tele-education, disaster management and broadcasting services.

Since then, India has expanded cooperation, building ground stations in Bhutan and pursuing facilities in Fiji and Vietnam.

India also deepened space cooperation with Australia, Japan and the United States, and launched a formal Space Dialogue with the European Union in November 2025.

New Delhi had signed space cooperation agreements with 61 countries and five multilateral organisations by early 2024.

The recent report contrasted India’s strategy with China’s Belt and Road infrastructure financing in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, which has drawn resentment in some countries.

The think tank said satellites are a portable form of soft power that can be offered to any partner without the political baggage associated with large loans.

India’s approach earns less strategic leverage in the short term, but it also generates far less local backlash.

However, the report warned that India is effectively acting on faith — delivering its side upfront without having a strong lever to ensure follow-through.