The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was instituted on 15 September 1964 by a decision of the Indian Cabinet. While conveying their decision to initiate the ITEC programme, the Cabinet noted that "a programme of technical and economic cooperation is essential for the development of our relations with the other developing countries on the basis of partnership and cooperation for mutual benefit. It would also be a concrete manifestation of our resolve to contribute to the evolution of world community based on the inter-dependence of all its members in the attainment of their common goal for promoting the social and economic well-being of their people." Since then 15 September is celebrated as ITEC Day every year. Under the ITEC and its sister programmes, the SCAAP (Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme), and the Technical Cooperation Scheme of Colombo Plan, more than 160 countries are invited to share India’s developmental experience acquired over six decades of her existence as a free nation. Though the ITEC programme itself was initiated only in 1964, the larger vision of “One World” driving India’s development cooperation policy started right after India’s independence.

In 1949 itself, India announced 70 scholarships for students from other developing countries for pursuing studies in India. For a newly-independent nation, there was a strong conviction that some of the economic and other prescriptions that came with the aid received were simply not applicable to the prevailing socioeconomic conditions. At the same time, the assistance received in capacity building was invaluable and had a tremendous impact on India’s development. This was the inspiration for the ITEC - the idea genuinely was to share the lessons in development that we were imbibing. Driven by this belief, at various platforms and in debates involving the South-South Cooperation (such as UNCTAD, Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries (ECDC), the Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC), New International Economic Order, etc.), India played a key role. The utility and relevance of ITEC programme has been reflected in the increasing number of participants. In 2013-14, over 10000 scholarship slots were offered under the ITEC/SCAAP programme; there are 47 trainings institutions in India which run more than 280 training courses in diverse subjects ranging from IT, public administration to election management, SME, entrepreneurship, rural development, parliamentary affairs, renewable energy to name a few. Similarly, training programmes on security and strategic studies, defence management, marine and aeronautical engineering, logistics and management, marine hydrography, counter insurgency, etc., are organized for defence personnel in prestigious institutions like National Defence College, Defence Services Staff College, covering all the three wings of the defence services – Army, Navy and Air Force. The facility is also extended and availed by some developed countries on self financing basis.

ITEC courses equip the participants with not just professional skills but also prepare them for an increasingly globalised world. The ITEC Programme has been envisaged essentially as a bilateral programme. However, in recent years ITEC resources have also been used for cooperation programmes conceived in regional and inter-regional context such as Economic Commission for Africa, Industrial Development Unit of Commonwealth Secretariat, UNIDO, Group of 77 and G-l5. Recently, its activities have also been associated with regional and multilateral organizations and cooperation groupings like Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi—Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMST EC), Mekong—Ganga Cooperation (MGC), African Union (AU), Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO), Pan African Parliament, Caribbean Community (CARICOM), World Trade Organization (WTO), Indian Ocean Rim — Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) and India-Africa Forum Summit. The ITEC programme has several components. Apart from organizing training courses in India, it also covers deputation of Indian experts abroad, aid for disaster relief, gifting of equipment, study tours and feasibility studies/consultancy services. ITEC is a demand driven programme, therefore, assistance offered under ITEC is usually in response to requests received from friendly countries and the commitments made by India’s political leadership.