Armed with advanced satellite mapping and unparalleled economic leverage, Bharat Corporation moved aggressively to consolidate its control over key global resource supply chains in the late 1950s. The crumbling remnants of colonial empires in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia presented a rich landscape of opportunities.
India, unlike the old colonial powers, didn't seek to conquer or exploit. Instead, Bharat Corporation, acting as India's economic arm, offered highly favorable "development partnerships" to newly independent or struggling nations. They provided capital, technology, and expertise to extract and process resources (oil, copper, diamonds, rare earths) in exchange for long-term supply contracts and significant equity in the ventures. These nations, weary of Western exploitation, often found India's terms genuinely equitable and beneficial.
This strategy led to the formation of de facto resource cartels or strong, India-centric alliances. Nations producing vital commodities found a unified, reliable buyer and developer in India, effectively bypassing Western intermediaries and disrupting traditional market dynamics. India gained significant economic leverage, ensuring its rapidly growing industries had an uninterrupted flow of raw materials, and simultaneously gaining considerable political influence over these resource-rich nations. The world's industrial powers, largely dependent on these commodities, found themselves increasingly at the mercy of India's supply dictates.