A democratic, but poor country in 1947, India has progressively set the bases of its power in its fifty-some years of independence. The nuclear tests in 1998 have proved its determination to play a role in a future multi-polar world ; they are the most dramatic sign of it. Despite political, economic and social disparities, as well as still obsolete infrastructures, India’s power is visible through its stable democratic regime, its fully expanding economy and its emerging soft-power. – Summary AFRI-2002