Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme

Last updated

Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) is a bilateral assistance programme run by the Government of India. It is a demand-driven, response-oriented programme that focuses on addressing the needs of developing countries through innovative technological cooperation between India and the partnering nation. Along with its corollary the Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme, ITEC covers 158 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and several Pacific and Caribbean nations. Since its inception, the programme has spent over US$ 2 billion and benefited thousands of students and professionals from around the globe and annual expenditure on the programme has averaged US$ 100 million per annum in recent years. [1] [2]

Contents

History

ITEC was officially launched on 15 September 1964 but for decades it remained a marginal programme as India itself was dependent on international aid. [3] ITEC was an important part of India's attempt to contributing to South-South cooperation. India's aid for its neighbours began in the 1950s through assistance to Nepal. However, until the 1990s, India was also the world largest recipient of aid, receiving a cumulative sum of US$ 55 billion since its independence in 1947. The ITEC programme has grown in scope and size since the 2000s as India's economy grew rapidly. With foreign aid it receives accounting for only 0.3% of its GDP, India has now emerged as a net donor of foreign aid. Its National Agricultural Research System under the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, one of the largest in the world, and the Indira Gandhi National Open University have played key roles in facilitating ITEC assistance. [4] [5] South Asia accounts for 70% of the grants dispersed under ITEC. Lines of credit are also offered under ITEC and African nations have been the major beneficiaries under this head. [5]

Scope of ITEC

Assistance under ITEC covers the six areas of training for civil and defence personnel, projects and project related activities such as consultancy services, study tours, donation of equipment, deputation of Indian experts in the partner nation and aid for disaster relief. [1] Personnel training under ITEC covers a wide and varied range of sectors such as banking, IT and computers, personnel management and administrative and scientific areas. ITEC is administered by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India and all expenses including international airfare, boarding, lodging and tuition fees of selected personnel are borne by the Indian authorities. [6] [7] Although ITEC is essentially a bilateral programme, its resources have also been used for financing trilateral and regional undertakings such as with the Economic Commission for Africa, UNIDO and G-77. In Africa, Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organisation, COMESA, the African Union Commission and G-15 receive training and project support under ITEC. [6]

Augmenting Soft Power

The ITEC programme has significantly augmented India's soft power among developing nations. Indian public sector companies such as Hindustan Machine Tools, Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS), Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) that were closely associated with the programme have been able to establish themselves and become well known in developing countries where they have gone on to bid independently for various projects. It has also helped foster contacts between Indian entrepreneurs with decision makers in other developing countries. While monetary assistance under ITEC remained limited for a long while owing to India's own impoverished conditions, technical advice and training for foreign personnel, deputing Indian civil servants abroad to help poorer governments with their professional expertise and providing training in India for civil servants from abroad all helped provide for good future relations with recipient countries. Hamid Karzai's education in India for instance is seen as one of the key reasons why Afghanistan has warmed up to India ever since the ouster of the Taliban government in 2001. [6] [8] To commemorate its achievements and to bring together beneficiaries of the programme in the host country, Indian embassies and consulates around the globe celebrate an ITEC Day every year. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

An Indian Aid Agency

In 2012, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) set up a Development Partnership Administration (DPA) under its Economic Relations Division to consolidate outgoing aid and to streamline administrative matters related to such aid. The idea for such an aid agency had been mooted previously by Finance Ministers Jaswant Singh and P Chidambaram variously as the India Development Assistance and the India International Development Cooperation Agency. [5] [14]

Global Impact of ITEC

South Asian nations have traditionally been the largest recipients of Indian aid both as part of ITEC and otherwise. Under the Twelfth Five Year Plan, ₹ 1,500 crore have been earmarked for developmental assistance to Myanmar, Afghanistan and Bhutan. Bhutan has traditionally been the largest recipient of Indian aid. In Afghanistan and Myanmar, India has focused on building infrastructure such as roads, buildings and hospitals besides providing training to their personnel. In Sri Lanka, Indian assistance has focused on rebuilding that country, especially its Tamil majority areas in the north and east that were the worst affected, by fighting during the Sri Lankan Civil War. [15] [16] [17] An important strategy in utilising development aid has been the Small Development Projects (SDP) scheme which focuses on low cost projects that aim at creating infrastructure and technical capabilities that directly affects local communities and supports their socioeconomic development. [18]

ITEC has also been an important component of India's assistance to African nations. In recent years, India has increased its assistance to various African nations and groupings. The focus is now on areas such as transfer of technology and the development of projects like the Pan-African e-Network project that will link African nations with Indian institutions and expertise. India also continues to provide extensive opportunities for human resource development and personnel training in these countries. There is also a special corollary to augment ITEC for African nations called the Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme (SCAAP). [19] [20] [21]

Related Research Articles

Foreign relations of Nepal Overview of relations

Though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is the government agency responsible for the conduct of foreign relations of Nepal, historically, it is the Office of Prime Minister (PMO) that has exercised the authority to formulate and conduct policies related to Nepal's foreign affairs. As a landlocked country wedged between two larger and far stronger powers, Nepal has tried to maintain good relations with both of its neighbors, People's Republic of China and Republic of India. However, its relationship with India, remains utmost priority due to open border and similarity in culture, tradition, geography, living practices. The relationship between the two countries was significantly hampered during the 2015 Nepal blockade. Where the Nepal Government accused India of the blockade, India strictly denied the allegation and said the blockade were imposed by Madheshi protesters. For the most part though, Nepal has traditionally maintained a non-aligned policy and enjoys friendly relations with its neighboring countries and almost all the major countries of the world.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 billion, USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance—the highest in the world in absolute dollar terms.

The Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) is a series of programmes conducted by the Government of Singapore to facilitate the sharing with other developing countries the technical and systems skills that Singapore has learned and acquired over the years. Technical assistance focuses on training and increasing the skills of a nation. As a country whose only resource is its people, Singapore believes human resource development is vital for economic and social progress. Singapore had benefited from technical assistance from other countries and international organizations.

India–Tajikistan relations Bilateral relations

The bilateral relations between the Republic of India and the Republic of Tajikistan have developed considerably owing to both nations' co-operation on security and strategic issues. India has set up its first overseas military base Farkhor in Tajikistan. India also assisted in building Ayni hospital.

Centre for Excellence in Telecom Technology and Management (CETTM) located in Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai is the telecom training centre of MTNL, the incumbent operator of Government of India (GOI). It was founded in 2003 as one of the largest telecom training centres in India and amongst the biggest in Asia. The Centre provides extensive training to corporate employees, students, and MTNL's internal employees in telecom switching, transmission, wireless communication, telecom operations and management.

India–South Sudan relations Bilateral relations

India–South Sudan relations refers to the bilateral ties between the Republic of India and the Republic of South Sudan. India recognised South Sudan on 9 July 2011, the day South Sudan became an independent state. India maintains an embassy at Juba, and South Sudan maintains an embassy in New Delhi.

Angola–India relations Bilateral relations

Angola–India relations refers to the international relations that exist between Angola and India.

India–Rwanda relations Bilateral relations

India–Rwanda relations are the foreign relations between India and Rwanda. India is represented in Rwanda through its High Commission in Kigali which opened on 15 August 2018. Rwanda has been operating its High Commission in New Delhi since 1999 and appointed its first resident High Commissioner in 2001.

India–Libya relations Bilateral relations

India–Libya relations are bilateral diplomatic relations between India and Libya. India maintains an embassy in Tripoli and Libya has an embassy in New Delhi.

India–Senegal relations Bilateral relations

India–Senegal relations are bilateral diplomatic relations between India and Senegal. India maintains an embassy in Dakar and Senegal in New Delhi. Although people to people contacts have been limited, the two countries enjoy warm relations and in recent years trade and investment have been increasing steadily.

Chinese foreign aid may be considered in this article as both governmental (official) and private development aid and humanitarian aid originating from China.

India–Zimbabwe relations Bilateral relations

India-Zimbabwe relations are bilateral relations between India and Zimbabwe.

Botswana–India relations Bilateral relations

India recognized Botswana shortly after the latter's independence in 1966, and opened an embassy in Gaborone in 1987. Botswana opened its embassy in New Delhi in 2006.

India–Niger relations Bilateral relations

India–Niger relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and Niger.

Burkina Faso–India relations Bilateral relations

Burkina Faso–India relations refers to the international relations that exist between Burkina Faso and India. Burkina Faso maintains an embassy in New Delhi. India maintained an embassy in Ouagadougou from November 1996 until its closure in July 2002. Currently, India maintains an honorary consulate in Ouagadougou, which functions under the jurisdiction of the High Commission of India in Accra, Ghana.

India–Sierra Leone relations Bilateral relations

India–Sierra Leone relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and Sierra Leone. India maintains a High Commission in Freetown. Sierra Leone does not have a resident diplomatic mission in India. The Sierra Leonean embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is accredited to India.

Central African Republic–India relations Bilateral relations

Central African Republic–India relations refers to the international relations that exist between the Central African Republic (CAR) and India. The Embassy of India in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo is concurrently accredited to CAR. India also maintains an Honorary Consulate General in Bangui. CAR has no diplomatic mission in India.

India–São Tomé and Príncipe relations Bilateral relations

India–São Tomé and Príncipe relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and São Tomé and Príncipe (STP). India has an embassy in São Tomé. STP maintains an Honorary Consul in New Delhi.

India–Mauritania relations Bilateral relations

India–Mauritania relations refers to the international relations that exist between India and Mauritania.

Indian foreign aid is the aid given by the Indian government to other governments. India's major quantum of foreign aid is given to neighbouring countries. According to India's budget in 2021-22, it's direct overseas aid stood at ₹18,154 crore (US$2.4 billion). That apart, India also extended a direct line of credit worth $30.66 billion dollars to several foreign countries for developmental projects. The way of providing a much larger share of aid in the form of concessional loans is quite similar to that of China. India has setup 'Indian Agency for Partnership in Development', as a part of Ministry of External Affairs (India) to channelize aid to recipient nations.

References

  1. 1 2 "Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation - Introduction". Ministry of External Affairs, India. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "India provides $2 billion technical assistance package…to developing countries". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)" . Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "India's Transition from Recipient to Donor" . Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 "India goes from aid beneficiary to donor". HT Mint. July 1, 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme". The Embassy of India at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Archived from the original on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC)". Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "The Rise of India's Soft Power". Foreign Policy Magazine. May 8, 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "ITEC Day 2012 at Sofia". Voice of India. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Indian Embassy, Moscow observes ITEC day 2012". Embassy of India, Moscow. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "ITEC DAY CELEBRATION - CELEBRACION DIA DE ITEC". Embassy of India, Guatemala. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Indian Embassy Celebrates ITEC Day in Uzbekistan". Turkish Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "ITEC DAY 2012 CELEBRATION". The Embassy of India, Yerevan. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "Aid from India, coming to a country near you". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Amid slowdown, India ramps up aid for neighbours". The Times of India . March 18, 2012. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "India's Foreign Aid Program" . Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "Karzai keen on Indian expertise". The Hindu . January 22, 2002. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  18. ↑ "Govt clears Rs540 crore development aid for Afghanistan". DNA. November 8, 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  19. ↑ "An Indian adventure in Africa". HT Mint. May 23, 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  20. ↑ "More Nigerians to benefit from Indian fellowship". The Hindu Businessline. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  21. ↑ "India spends over $12m annually on ITEC". Ghana Chronicle. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.