Recent aid cuts by Western donors have sent the development landscape into a tizzy. Though aid fluctuations are not new, the backdrop of interconnected turmoil lends them strategic significance. Geopolitical unrest caused by escalating conflicts, inward-looking economies and crises of trust between the North and the South, as well as within the multilateral system, make the aid cuts significant. The Donald Trump administration’s erratic policy decisions are making matters worse — from dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and withdrawing from the Paris Agreement to sidelining the Indo-Pacific agenda and, more importantly, pushing development into the shadows.AdvertisementIn addition, emerging global networks in finance, trade and technology are reshaping the current world order. Vulnerable to exploitation, these networks are increasingly being weaponised by rogue and coercive nations aiming to achieve a strategic edge. In fact, weaponised interdependence has become a defining feature of the global order, intertwining geopolitics and geoeconomics into a bundle of challenges. Moreover, cuts to development budgets have coincided with a diversion of resources towards procuring military equipment, modernising defence production and expanding the industrial base. In April 2026, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated a 6.9 per cent decline in aid to USD 152 billion, marking the third consecutive year of sweeping budget cuts.Yet the crisis presents a turning point and an opportunity to accelerate change in the Global South, opening up a critical entry point for development partnerships to become inventive.Also Read | India and ASEAN need to talk moreFirst, innovative and low-cost development solutions are the need of the hour. When capital retreats, good practices in skills transfer, capacity-building and technical training should be bolstered. Cases in point include the growing demand in several developing countries for innovative solutions in sectors such as education, healthcare, food security, energy transition and digital technologies. India’s experience with the Pratham model of primary school education, the Jaipur foot, Barefoot College’s programme training women as solar energy technicians, and India Stack, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), are pertinent examples that have been adopted or adapted by several African nations. These innovative mechanisms are not shared as copybook templates to be replicated but rather interpreted, tested and then adapted according to the socioeconomic realities of each country. India’s launch of the SEEDS initiative (Supply of Equipment for Efficient Development of SMEs) in the Caribbean and Latin America earlier this year is another pertinent example. The initiative aims to establish food and agro-processing units to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), providing a targeted boost to inclusive economic growth and generating quick results.AdvertisementSecond, partnerships can strengthen the global arc of multilateralism by maximising rapid, short-term gains in the provision of global public goods, not just for the future but, more importantly, for the present. Inclusive growth and shared prosperity can be achieved when supported by evidence-based policymaking. For decades, multilateral institutions have fallen prey to the trade-offs between the South reaping benefits from globalisation and the North’s growing disillusionment with this economic interdependence. It is undoubtedly vital to think of the future, but ensuring tangible results in the present is equally urgent. Further, multilateralism does not adequately reflect present-day geopolitical and geoeconomic realities. It not only needs a new narrative but also clear messaging around transparency, accountability, and a shift away from technocratic models of operation. Moving beyond the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5) and ensuring greater representation of the Global South can prove to be a crucial reform.you may likeThird, setting the roadmap beyond 2030 is possible if purposeful partnerships are built that emanate from the Global South. With trade, technology, and finance forming the holy trinity defining new-age economic growth, Western nations have understood the importance of diversifying partnerships and bridging gaps with the Global South, especially in sectors such as education, healthcare, and technology. Although free trade agreements (FTAs) have existed for decades, they are increasingly being used as tools for establishing credibility, elevating status and expanding spheres of strategic influence. India’s FTAs with several countries in the Global North are an example of pragmatism blended with strategic intent. India is keen to build new forms of partnerships aimed at fostering supply chain innovations and creating development avenues to address critical issues of inclusion.Aid may have lost its sheen, but partnerships have become ever more important. If the global order is to survive, countries and institutions need to move beyond traditional “strings-attached” conditionalities and focus on shared strategic interests, which will be critical to the future of international development.The writer is a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF)