India presses US on USAID funding
The ministry announced that last week in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, Times of India reported on Tuesday.
As such funding comes through organizations which are 'not-for-profit', the Indian government has sought information on the entities involved in implementing USAID-backed initiatives, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the newspaper. American officials have not formally responded to India's request, according to the report.
While there is some open-source information available, the Indian government 'understandably expects an official response from the US Government on this matter,' said Singh.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said last month that USAID had been allowed to operate in India 'in good faith.' However, the information 'emerging from the US administration' seemed to reveal activities 'which are in bad faith,' Jaishankar stated, commenting on data on USAID programs released by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Jaishankar revealed that the government was looking into NGO contributions and that such organizations were obligated to declare their sources of funding, adding that 'the facts will come out.'
In a related development on Tuesday, India's economic intelligence agency, the Enforcement Directorate, raided eight locations linked to USAID activities. They included the premises of a fund manager associated with the Open Society Foundations, which is controlled by US billionaire George Soros.
The raids were carried out following the discovery of a money trail of about $3 million that led to various NGOs. In its 2023-24 annual report, India's Finance Ministry revealed that USAID was funding seven projects in India, with a total investment of $750 million.
In the most recent fiscal year, USAID had allocated $97 million to these projects, which are being implemented in partnership with the Indian government and span multiple sectors, including agriculture, water and sanitation, renewable energy, disaster management, and health.
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