Foreign Aid in South Asia examines the individual South Asian country experience in dealing with foreign aid. The articles in this book show that the effectiveness of foreign aid as a developmental tool over the last few decades has been mixed, and that the Paris Declaration of 2005 has brought about some improvement in aid ownership, harmonization, mainstreaming, utilization, etc. The book examines how emerging as well as less developed South Asian economies are adapting to these developments in the context of security issues, post-conflict rehabilitation/reconstruction, and so on.

The book provides many lessons for designing an international framework for aid or international aid architecture through case studies, highlighting the future policy priorities for that country. For the very first time, focus is laid on Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan—the three least-documented countries in the region—besides discussing about India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.