This research paper is an attempt to understand the essential templates that guide India’s aid policy towards its neighbours, especially Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Further, the paper explicates the forces and factors that inform and shape India’s aid policy in its contiguity. The argument that India’s aid policy towards its neighbours is encumbered with moral exceptionalism without strategic pragmatism is a research gap that has not been adequately addressed. The paper underscores the fact that India’s aid and assistance are predicated on multidimensional variables depending on the context and demand both in South Asia and abroad. India’s aid policy is driven by concerns such as addressing common challenges, promoting sustainable development, and strengthening regional integration. However, the strategic imperatives also drive New Delhi’s engagement on the aid front. This is also indicative of the fact that India’s geopolitical location, its border tensions and regional rivalry present asymmetrical challenges to India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, the paper argues that India’s aid policy is calibrated both on the matrix of moral exceptionalism and strategic pragmatism since the region is penetrated by great power politics and the presence of China in its proximity.
Keywords: Aid Policy, Foreign assistance, South Asia, Moral Exceptionalism, Strategic Pragmatism
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