The Study On Triangular Cooperation In India's Foreign Assistance

With the changing in the international aid system,triangular cooperation as a bridge between South-South cooperation and North-South cooperation is showing a trend from niche to mainstream issues.Unlike OECD/DAC that hopes to incorporate emerging donors into its leading international aid system through triangular cooperation,the attitude of emerging donors is relatively complicated.Among them,the case of India has certain peculiarities.India refuses to accept the aid concept and norms of traditional donors.It does not seem to be logical to carry out triangular cooperation with traditional donors.However,the triangular cooperation which was once marginal is becoming an important option for its foreign aid,from its limited participation during the Cold War to cautious opening after the economic liberalization reform.The signing of a series of tripartite cooperation documents and the promotion of large-scale flagship projects after Modi took office,the trend of India's active deployment of triangular cooperation has become more and more obvious.What is the logic behind this seemingly contradictory behavior in India?Does this phenomenon mean India's acceptance of DAC's aid norms and even its integration into the existing international aid system? If the aid concept has not changed,what are the factors that prompted India to change the position of triangular cooperation? This is the core issue of the dissertation.In fact,there is a logical self-consistent based on multiple appeals behind India's seemingly contradictory behavior.The fragile domestic foundation limits India's choice of aid policies,and also gives the triangular the internal impetus to cooperate to solve domestic development problems.India regards South Asia as a closely related international arena.The gap between its desire to dominate regional affairs and its own situation has prompted India to explore the possibility of relying on extraterritorial forces to achieve regional dominance within a controllable range.The sense of urgency for geopolitical competition with China has led India to regard triangular cooperation as a strategic tool for confronting China in South Asia and competing with China in Africa.The desire to improve foreign aid capabilities and international discourse has further stimulated India's expectations for triangular cooperation.India's triangular cooperation takes place in both traditional and emerging forms.Traditionally,the first is to regard the United States and the United Kingdom as the most important traditional donor partners,mainly to carry out triangular cooperation in South Asia and Africa,and the second is to take the IBSA-Fund and the India-UN Development Partnership Fund as typical examples,which are oriented to a wider range of developing countries to carry out triangular cooperation led by countries in the South.In terms of emerging forms,India is mainly building a triangular cooperation platform to highlight its dominant position.The Asia-Africa Growth Corridor is a triangular platform in the field of interconnection initiated by India and Japan,and the ISA is a cooperation platform in the field of clean energy initiated by India and France.CDRI is a cooperation platform in the field of infrastructure initiated and led by India.From the sporadic participation in the early days of the Cold War to the active promotion of traditional forms of triangular cooperation and the leadership of large-scale cooperation projects after Modi came to power,India's triangular cooperation strategy has become increasingly clear.India's triangular cooperation shows some particularity.One is the preference of partners.Traditional donors are India's main partners,followed by United Nations agencies.In comparison,the UN agencies are relatively neutral,while cooperation with traditional donor countries is relatively complicated.The second is the innovation of cooperation forms.In addition to participating in the traditional form of triangular cooperation,India attaches great importance to the establishment of cooperation platforms.India takes itself as the “baton of South-South cooperation and tripartite cooperation” to highlight its dominant position.The third is the difference in the target of assistance.India-US cooperation focuses on South Asia,India-UK cooperation is mainly for Africa,India-Japan cooperation presents a strategic layout,and cooperation between India and UN agencies is geared towards a wider range of developing countries.The fourth is the joint participation of multiple subjects.When developing triangular cooperation,India takes the state as the leading factor,and at the same time focuses on using the relative advantages of non-state actors such as the private sector,civil society organizations,and think tanks to mobilize more resources.India's triangular cooperation has achieved certain results,but it also faces certain constraints.For the recipient countries,the cooperation is basically driven by the needs of the recipient countries and has achieved certain results.For India,it is both a donor and a recipient in some projects,and cooperation has played a positive role in solving India's own development problems.India is also advancing its aid capacity building from the perspective of the coordination and cooperation of donors,the analysis of major cases shows that India and its partners have achieved complementary advantages,and some projects have shown a strategic docking situation.At the same time,issues such as the incompatibility of aid concepts,the sustainability of the project,the bottleneck of participation of civil society organizations,and the excessive politicization of cooperation have become the bottleneck for continued cooperation.