The Three-Partner Solution: OECD Highlights India's Role in Modernizing World Aid
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure | SDG 1: No Poverty
Institutions: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
The OECD and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) published the Second Edition of Global Perspectives on Triangular Co-operation (TrC) 2025, positioning TrC as an indispensable model for modern development co-operation. The report argues that traditional aid dynamics are insufficient to meet the demands of multiple global crises, geopolitical shifts, and rising needs, requiring new, resilient, and inclusive partnerships.
TrC is a collaborative development model that involves three partners: a beneficiary partner (a developing country seeking support), an experienced pivotal partner (typically a country from the Global South like India or Brazil that shares its knowledge and expertise), and a facilitating partner (typically an OECD/DAC member or multilateral institution that provides financial and technical support). This model breaks with the traditional “donor-recipient” hierarchy by fostering horizontal, trust-based partnerships to co-design context-specific solutions.
Key Findings from the Report:
Strategic Value: The greatest asset of TrC is its ability to deliver technical diplomacy—building trust that transcends mere technical engagement to underpin wider political dialogue.
Flexibility: TrC mobilizes a unique combination of finance, knowledge, and innovation from diverse partners, creating flexible solutions for global challenges.
India’s Role: India is highlighted as a pioneer and champion of triangular co-operation since its independence. India’s specific TrC model focuses on leveraging domestic development innovations and the expertise of its diverse civil society organizations (CSOs), offering solutions that are often easier to adapt to the local contexts of other developing nations in Africa and Asia.
Sectoral Focus: Globally, TrC activities are most commonly used to strengthen global governance, and provide support in agriculture/food security and health.
The report provides critical validation for India’s foreign policy approach, which is rooted in South-South Cooperation (SSC) principles like respect for sovereignty, non-interference, and demand-driven assistance. The continued recognition of TrC by global bodies like the OECD and the G20 (under Brazil’s and India’s presidencies) mandates that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), through its Development Partnership Administration (DPA)—continue to increase the scope, scale, and innovation of its TrC initiatives.
Follow the full update here: Global Perspectives on Triangular Co-operation 2025