March 2011 GPPi Research Paper No. 13 India’s Growing Involvement in Humanitarian Assistance Claudia Meier • C.S.R. Murthy Imprint Disclaimer The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Public Policy Institute. Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) Reinhardtstr. 15 10117 Berlin Phone: + 49 (0) 30 275 959 75-0 Fax: + 49 (0) 30 690 88 200
[email protected] • www.gppi.net Authors: Claudia Meier and C.S.R. Murthy Editor: Global Public Policy Institute Published: Berlin, March 2011 India’s Growing Involvement in Humanitarian Assistance 1 Table of Contents About the authors 2 Abbreviations and acronyms 3 1. Introduction 4 2. India’s conception of humanitarian assistance 6 3. India’s aid bureaucracy: actors and their influence 9 4. Indian disaster relief in practice 15 5. Indian multilateral assistance and cooperation 25 6. Explaining the puzzle: norms and interests combined 32 7. Finding collective and cooperative solutions 35 Bibliography 39 India’s Growing Involvement in Humanitarian Assistance 2 About the authors Claudia Meier is a research associate with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin. Her areas of expertise include humanitarian assistance and international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law. Before joining GPPi in 2009, she worked for the ASA-Program at InWEnt Capacity Building International as an assistant to the project planning coordinator. Other work experience includes assignments with the Geneva Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. She holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.