India’s Development and Peacebuilding Assistance to the Conflict-Affected States: Case-study of Democratic Republic of Congo
| Author | Yeshi Choedon |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208817231151609 |
| Published date | 01 January 2023 |
| Date | 01 January 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Research Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/00208817231151609
International Studies
60(1) 45 –66, 2023
© 2023 Jawaharlal Nehru University
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DOI: 10.1177/00208817231151609
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Research Article
India’s Development and
Peacebuilding Assistance
to the Conflict-Affected
States: Case-study of
Democratic Republic
of Congo
Yeshi Choedon1
Abstract
The rationale for India’s development and peacebuilding assistance and the
mechanisms employed have changed over the period. India’s assistance is starkly
different from the way the developed countries do peacebuilding. This difference
is due to India’s different historical experiences, socio-economic conditions
and lived experience. The conflict-affected states have appreciated India’s
assistance due to the suitability and appropriateness of technical assistance,
training and educational programs to their socio-economic context. India’s
ways of development and peacebuilding assistance have similarities with the
2016 UN concept of ‘sustaining peace’, which has been formulated to liberate
peacebuilding from the strict limitation to post-conflict contexts. However, both
the western and non-western donors have a certain reservation about ‘sustaining
peace’ concept, for different reasons. The way forward to implement the UN
‘sustaining peace’ is to facilitate both the western and non-western donors to
learn lessons from each other’s experiences and view their varied approaches as
complementary rather than contradictory.
Keywords
Sovereignty, national-ownership, demand-driven approach, capacity building,
socio-economic context,
1Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of International Studies, Centre for International Politics,
Organization and Disarmament, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Corresponding author:
Yeshi Choedon, Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of International Studies, Centre for
International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, New Mehrauli Road, JNU Ring Rd,
New Delhi, Delhi 110067, India.
E-mail: yeshichoedon@yahoo.com
46 International Studies 60(1)
Introduction
Although India was a major recipient of development assistance until 2004, it
provided development assistance to many post-colonial states in their nation-
building efforts since 1947. Despite being confronted with major security
challenges, India also made a major contribution to UN peacekeeping operations
to assist developing countries to manage conflicts. This has been done to express
solidarity with fellow developing countries. It paid a rich dividend as India
became an acknowledged leader of developing countries, particularly during the
Cold War era. Even in the changed contextual situation of the post-Cold War,
India has continued to provide development assistance and participation in UN
peacekeeping operations.
When internal conflicts became a major phenomenon in the post-Cold War era,
Western countries developed a practice of labelling conflict-affected states as
‘fragile states’. They developed different policies and funding instruments for such
countries under the rubric of peacebuilding. As India regards the labelling of ‘fragile
state’ as an affront to the sovereignty of these states, India did not adopt a similar
differential treatment of the countries affected by conflict, nor did it adopt a separate
peacebuilding policy. India continued to provide development assistance for the
reconstruction of the conflict-affected states. These assistances are similar to
peacebuilding assistance provided by developed countries. Therefore, in this article,
the term India’s ‘development and peacebuilding assistance’ is used as India does
not distinguish between development and peacebuilding assistance. India regards
peacebuilding as similar to nation-building. Its representatives frequently state at
the United Nations that India has a unique experience of nation-building and has
shared this experience and expertise with several countries. Its representative
expresses India’s readiness to continue making its experience and expertise available
to countries emerging from the conflict (Puri, 2010). The Indian peacekeepers in the
UN operations are engaged not only in stabilizing the conflict-affected states but
also known for providing basic services to the conflict-affected people. In fact, the
Indian peacekeepers are regarded as early peacebuilders as they carry out various
social and development activities in their areas of deployment. The development
and peacebuilding assistance in the post-Cold War and its increased participation in
the UN peacekeeping operations are motivated by additional factors like market
access for Indian products and natural resources for its fast-expanding industrial
sector. In addition, the geopolitical ambition to become a major player in global
politics also necessitated India to provide development and peacebuilding assistance
and participate in UN peacekeeping operations to showcase India’s global reach and
in order to ensure the support of the developing countries at multilateral forums.
This article starts with a discussion on how India’s development and
peacebuilding assistance evolved over the decades and how it has changed
according to the changing domestic and international contexts in the 21st century.
The article highlights the guiding principles of India’s development and
peacebuilding assistance and discusses how these principles make India’s
assistance distinct from that of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) countries and make it more acceptable to developing
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