New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday told the Upper House that so far 308 Lines of Credit aggregating more than USD 32.02 billion have been extended in various sectors to partner countries. The statement was made by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, in response to a question in Parliament on a comprehensive account of the major development projects supported by India and the allocated funds for each of these projects.
MoS MEA V Muraleedharan said, “India’s development projects are based on the needs and aspirations of the partner countries. The main instruments of support include Lines of Credit, grants-in-aid as well as capacity building programmes. India’s development projects are spread across Asia, Africa, CIS, Latin America, the Caribbean & Pacific Islands. So far, 308 Lines of Credit aggregating more than USD 32.02 billion have been extended in various sectors to partner countries. Of these, around USD 17.06 billion has been extended to Asia, and USD 12.15 billion to Africa, and USD 2.81 billion to others”.
He informed Parliament that around 600 projects have been taken up in several sectors, including infrastructure, power, connectivity, agriculture, education and health. A list of major projects undertaken under the Lines of Credit Grant assistance projects is concentrated primarily in India’s neighbourhood in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
In addition, India works closely with international organisations such as UNDP and ASEAN to finance joint projects and capacity-building programmes in partner countries. In a written reply to another question on whether the government proposes to focus on capacity building to promote India’s interest on the global stage, MoS MEA said, “India provides capacity building assistance under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme to partners in the Global South".
"Around 160 countries avail of these scholarships annually. More than 14,000 training slots are offered each year for both civilian and defence courses. Apart from ‘in-person training’ at Indian institutions, support is also provided through the deployment of Indian experts to partner countries, onsite training capsules, online e-ITEC programmes and the setting up of training centres abroad. Upgrading the earlier Pan Africa e-Network Project, the government launched the eVidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati Network Project (e-VBAB), which provide tele-education and telemedicine services through specifically developed web platforms to partner countries in Africa”, he said.
He noted that for the first time in 2023-24, ITEC has developed region-focused packages of capacity-building courses. The two most prominent packages include the 'Sagar Amrut' package developed for Pacific Island Countries announced by the Prime Minister at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in May 2023 to provide 1,000 training slots over the next five years and 500 training slots over the next four years for countries in the Indo-Pacific region as part of the QUAD Infrastructure Fellowship.
During the 1st Voice of Global South Summit held on January 12-13 this year in virtual format, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced several new initiatives, which include the Global South Centre of Excellence, Global South scholarships the Global South Young Diplomats Forum. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Global South Centre of Excellence during the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit on November 17 2023.
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