India's S&T cooperation with the developing countries

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse India's international science and technology (S&T) cooperation efforts, with a special focus on the developing countries. It intends to identify the actors, magnitude, nature, routes and areas of international cooperation. Further, it probes whether the "globalisation process" is likely to change the collaboration pattern or transform India's innovation system and processes. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is structured around five sections that include analysis of different stages of globalization in the context of an historical analysis of India's international S&T cooperation policy. An essential feature of this study is that the analysis is not restricted to R&D collaboration in the corporate sector but includes bilateral and multilateral cooperation between different countries and also inward and outward FDI flows that is expected to enhance learning process. Finally, the countervailing tendencies emanating from the structure of international S&T order and the nature of emerging technologies along with the unfolding of globalization are discussed. Findings - It is observed that the unfolding of globalization has tended to change the nature, magnitude and routes of international cooperation in significant ways and new actors have emerged in terms of some developing countries. The nature of bilateral cooperation has undergone a transformation and has been extended to R&D-based innovative activities and industrial application instead of remaining confined to scientific research. Originality/value - The paper provides theoretical contribution from the perspective of linkages between national and international systems of innovation.