India 2018

326 India 2018
situation, global economic growth, global governance, climate change and
sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Consolidation of BRICS Cooperation.
These and other issues were taken up at the 9th BRICS Summit was held in
Xiamen, China in September 2017. The G20 Summit was held in Hamburg in
July 2017.
Development Cooperation
Development cooperation is an integral part of India's foreign policy. In recent
years, India's development programmes abroad have expanded substantially,
both in geographical reach and sectoral coverage. These include lines of credit,
grant assistance, technical consultancy, disaster relief, humanitarian aid,
educational scholarships and a range of capacity-building programmes
including short-term civilian and military training courses.
Major developmental projects identified by the host governments as
priority areas are under implementation in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Maldives in infrastructure, hydroelectricity,
power transmission, agriculture, industry, education, health and other sectors.
In addition, various projects initiated for development and strengthening crossborder
connectivity with India's neighbours are progressing in a satisfactory
manner. Beyond the neighbourhood, bilateral projects in archaeological
conservation, Information and Communications Technology (lCT) and small
and medium enterprises have been undertaken in South East Asia, Central Asia,
Africa and Latin America. A key aspect of India's development assistance in
the past few years has been the extension of Lines of Credit (LoC) on concessional
terms to other developing countries.
Over the years, 241 LoCs aggregating US$ 18,878.45 million have been
allocated to different countries in various sectors, of which US$ 9,133.14 million
has been allocated for African countries and US$ 9,745.31 million for non-African
countries. During 2016-17, 10469 civilian training scholarships were offered to
161 partner countries under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation
(ITEC) Programme, which includes the capacity building courses offered by
India under the Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme
(SCAAP) and the Technical Cooperation Scheme of the Colombo Plan (TCS-
CP). These training scholarships also included specially designed courses and
training programmes in a variety of disciplines, based on specific requests from
partner countries. The ITEC programme also covered deputation of Indian
experts abroad to share India's expertise and development experience in the
areas requested by partner countries. In addition, about 1900 defence training
places were offered to partner countries in premier defence institutions in India.
In line with Digital India initiatives, the online-ITEC portal facilitated the
continued engagement with ITEC Alumni and provided a comprehensive
interface for ITEC activities. Humanitarian assistance was provided to Ecuador,
Malawi, Commonwealth of Dominica, Yemen, Syria, Kenya, Mozambique,
Ukraine, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe in 2016-17.