Shaping global economic narratives: 40 years of RIS
This article is authored by Prabir De, professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi.
Research and Information System for Developing Countries or what is known as RIS started its journey in 1983. The journey of a thousand miles always starts with the first step. Some baby steps taken 40 years ago led to the RIS becoming a leading think-tank in the Global South. What was the genesis? How is the journey so far and what are the major achievements?
The 1970s was a decade of economic stagnation. The need for RIS was thought of in the late 1970s when the world was faced with a major oil crisis that caused disruption of the global oil supply resulting in sharp rise in inflation in that cyclical order. Countries across the world faced the severity of the oil shock and economic contraction. Southern countries were compelled to seek a resilient solution to the crisis. They decided to set up an institution with strength in research and information system, which can not only coordinate the economic management among the countries but also build the capacity. The 5th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries, held in Colombo during August 1976, recommended the establishment of RIS. The recommendation was also discussed at the Havana Summit in 1979. It took almost four years to get the resolution passed at the 7th NAM Summit, which was hosted by India during in March 1983, and finally RIS was born in Delhi for the southern world or what is now known as Global South.
The Congress government was at the helm when India decided to go ahead with the RIS. Indira Gandhi was the prime minister (PM) and PV Narasimha Rao was the external affairs minister. Stalwarts like ambassador G Parthasarathi and professor Sukhamoy Chakravarty were tasked with the establishment of RIS. Professor VR Panchamukhi became the founder director-general of RIS. The journey started from rented premises at the India International Centre (IIC). Later, Manmohan Singh, former PM, came on board as chairman of RIS. Thereafter, several stalwarts and nation builders served as chairmen of RIS including professor KC Pant, the then Member of Parliament (MP) and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission; professor Arjun Sengupta, eminent scholar and former MP; ambassador Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary and current president of IIC; ambassador HS Puri, current minister of petroleum and natural gas and minister of housing and urban affairs; and then ambassador Mohan Kumar, who was ambassador to France.
Raul Prebisch delivered the first lecture on “New Perspectives in North-South and South-South Economic Relations” at RIS in 1984. Prebisch was an Argentine economist known for the Prebisch–Singer hypothesis. Later, he became executive director of the Economic Commission for Latin America, and secretary general of UNCTAD. In 1986, RIS made seminal contributions to the 8th World Economic Congress, which was held in Delhi in 1986. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) started frequently using the RIS as a think-tank for evidence-based research support to foreign policy. They also provide an annual grant to run the institute.
In 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formed and the RIS was asked by the MEA to help the government in designing a South Asian strategy for integration. Later, the RIS came out with its flagship South Asia Development Cooperation Report (SADCR). India and Sri Lanka negotiated an FTA in 1999 and the RIS was the knowledge partner of the Government of India. In 1992, India joined the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a sectoral partner and RIS provided valuable inputs to the MEA on ASEAN-India relations. In continuation, the RIS was the host for Mahatir bin Mohamad, the then PM of Malaysia to deliver the ASEAN-India Eminent Persons’ Lecture in 1996. In 1995, the RIS moved into its own premises in the India Habitat Centre (IHC). In the same year, RIS helped the MEA as a knowledge partner in setting up the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The RIS also played a key role in designing the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) cooperation in 2007 and became the nodal think-tank of IBSA Academic Forum. Gradually, RIS’s inputs started shaping the global agenda for the South. The focus of the work programme of RIS has been to promote South-South Cooperation (SSC) and collaborate with developing countries in multilateral negotiations in various forums.
Ambassador Shyam Saran, played a key role in shaping the ASEAN-India relations during 2012 and 2013. The ASEAN-India Centre (AIC), which was a recommendation of the 20th ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, was set-up at the RIS in 2013. In the same year, RIS also established the Global Development Centre (GDC) to strengthen the SSC. Today, the MEA has set-up the DAKSHIN, a global centre for excellence catering to countries of the Global South at the RIS. This initiative was proposed during the First Voice of Global South Summit in January 2022.
RIS’s humble contribution towards shaping the global economic agenda has been well-recognised by the global South. RIS’s work programmes which have emerged over time can be clubbed in three categories: first, RIS has been providing analytical research inputs to India and other developing countries in the areas of international cooperation relating trade and investment, connectivity, SDG, technology, among others. Second, RIS has been working closely with India and other developing countries on the issues taken up at the international fora and multilateral bodies, such as the NAM, G77, G20, the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization. Besides, RIS has been providing knowledge support to initiatives such as SAARC, BIMSTEC, ASEAN-India, EAS, MGC, BBIN, IORA, BRICS, IBSA and the Indo-Pacific. Third, RIS is also known for training and capacity building which has been extended to the developing world. It has been maintaining active networks with think-tanks of the developing world.
Currently, the RIS’s research agenda is structured around four pillars, namely, global economic governance and development cooperation architecture; trade, investment and regional cooperation; trade facilitation, connectivity and regional integration; and new technologies and development issues.
As happens in the MEA, neighbourhood studies also come very much in the core of RIS’s activities and so also development cooperation. What follows is that RIS’s activities have been influencing the international economic agenda and the coveted strategy for strengthening partnership for the developing world.
According to Prof Sachin Chaturvedi, DG, RIS, “Over the years, RIS has emerged as the voice of the Global South, advocating for the cause of equitable opportunities, human-centric development, greater access to development finance, reform of Bretton Woods institutions, regional economic cooperation, among others.”
In the G20 presidency of India, RIS indeed played a key role in spreading the G20 across India through its ‘University Connect’ programme. Today, the RIS is leading the research activities in the areas such as Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE), DPI, food security, women-led development, climate and green transition.
This article is authored by Prabir De, professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi.
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