When foreign aid poured into India during its catastrophic second wave of COVID-19, critics decried it as a reversal of the country’s long-standing policy against accepting humanitarian assistance from abroad.
But it is an oversimplification to say that India doesn’t accept aid — or that economic growth in the country means that it is no longer needed.
Once dependent on aid to mitigate the impacts of disasters, famines, and persistent rural poverty, India has in recent years transitioned from being a recipient to a net donor of foreign aid. A turning point was marked after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh turned down humanitarian aid, stating that “we feel that we can cope with the situation on our own.” Over the next two decades, India repeatedly made a point of declining international assistance.