Considering the growing need and significance of development cooperation in India’s foreign policy and international engagement, the Government of India needs to evolve strategies to enhance the reach and impact of its development assistance. The success of India’s development cooperation initiatives and partnerships in the 21st century will depend on how effectively it can overcome the deficiencies and limitations of its present institutional structure at both the policy formulation and implementation stages. This policy brief argues that the time has come for India to create institutional space for the serious involvement of non-government stakeholders, especially Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the process of identification of development sectors, implementation of development initiatives and their evaluation. It first lays down the policy rationale for civil society participation, then looks at options to involve CSOs and NGOs and concludes by recommending how the expertise of CSOs and NGOs could be tapped in managing and evaluating development cooperation projects and partnerships.