India funds 64 overseas development projects, totalling $12.84 billion

Development assistance and aid constitute a vital instrument of foreign policy, with global and regional powers vying for influence among their neighbours, strategic partners, and key regions — often by funding infrastructure such as roads, railways, energy networks, and telecommunications.  At their best, such investments address critical infrastructure gaps in developing nations. However, concerns persist that certain countries may be engaging in “debt-trap diplomacy”— acquiring significant debt holdings as a means of exerting political leverage and compromising the sovereignty of borrowing states. China, for instance, has faced such allegations from Western powers, though it has consistently denied them.  India,