India’s development model seeks to blend local ownership with global credibility, defining a new approach to South-South Cooperation that looks beyond aid dependency.
India’s development cooperation model
- Demand-Driven Approach: Meaning proposals originate from partner governments eg. India-UN Development Partnership Fund
- The fund was established in 2017 under the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)
- Capacity-Building Focus: It includes training local personnel, strengthening institutions, and facilitating technology transfer
- Eg. The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme, of the Ministry of External Affairs has trained officials from 160+ countries.
- Prioritizing vulnerable states eg. Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States
- Eg. Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS), which provides lines of credit through Export-Import Bank of India to developing African and non-African countries.
- Blending local Ownership and multilateral Credibility: By partnering with the UN, execution is transparent, insulating the initiatives from bilateral political dynamics.
- Eg. India-UN Global Capacity-Building Initiative, under the ministry of external affairs
- Other features: Respecting sovereignty, cost-effective solution, Non-Conditional Support eg, vaccine maitri, etc.
China’s Development model: Supply-driven (projects often initiated by China), projects driven by strategic and economic influence (Belt and Road Initiative), lending large sums of money to financially vulnerable developing countries (debt diplomacy), etc.
To further strengthen its cooperation model, India may enhance:
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