India ups aid to neighbours | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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India ups aid to neighbours

Hindustan Times | ByPrasad Nichenametla, New Delhi:
Mar 06, 2013 11:20 PM IST

India, a nation positioning itself as a superpower, is opening up its purse for its cash-strapped neighbours.

India, a nation positioning itself as a superpower, is opening up its purse for its cash-strapped neighbours.

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Aid to foreign nations has been doubled to Rs 7,018 crore in this budget, from what it was two years back. The allocation amounts to a four-fold increase from 2003, when it reworked the aid strategy to promote India globally.

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Interestingly, this generosity coincides with decisions of developed countries such as the UK to discontinue aid to India.

However, 92% of grants and loans will cater to a handful of nations in the neighbourhood leaving India little scope to make its presence felt in the world.

Bhutan, a major recipient through years, receives over 50% of the total Indian foreign aid, while Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar constitutes another 40%.

In contrast, Chinese aid is distributed more evenly reaching many developing nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe and is used as a powerful diplomatic tool to expand its political and trade interests. The scale of aid and operations too varies between the two nations.

In 2012-13, India’s foreign aid was $1 billion (excluding scientific collaborations etc) where as the corresponding Chinese aid was over $10 billion.

“India is no match to China in terms of aid — money or operations. But given our global ambitions, we should strategically reposition our aid to expect good returns,” says Sachin Chaturvedi, senior fellow, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a think-tank on external affairs.

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