In 1952, at the invitation of India’s government, the foundation established an office in India—our first outside the United States. We have maintained a steady presence in the region for over 60 years, working with partners ranging from government to academia to civil society. Our branch office in New Delhi supports a number of strategic regional interventions, including efforts in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

For our first 20 years in India, the foundation worked closely with the country’s newly independent government, providing both financial and technical support to help frame and implement India’s development agenda and to build key institutions in education, governance, and research, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology. As India’s institutions developed, the foundation expanded its reach to encompass a wider range of partners, among them communities and leaders working to find solutions to persistent poverty and injustice.

Over the past six decades, our focus in India and elsewhere in South Asia has evolved to respond to changing needs and opportunities. We are proud of our association with institutions and movements for economic opportunity and the empowerment of women and girls, with early and long-term engagement in issues as varied as microfinance, urban planning, the Green Revolution in agriculture, Dalit rights, Indian philanthropy, peace and regional security, arts and culture, educational opportunity, scientific research, and civic engagement.