USAID Row: Political Slugfest Over USAID Funds in New Delhi but Can India Afford to Cut Off Aid?

A certain hysteria seems to have gripped the political class over reports on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s activities in India. The government agency, through which the US channels its foreign aid, has been active in India since its very foundation in 1961.Since last week, a veritable political storm has been raging in New Delhi over the controversy raised by what could, at best, be a passing reference to a post on X by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on 16 February, which lists out items on which “US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent... all of which have been cancelled…”Among other things, it mentions, "$21 million for voter turnout in India.”After the outrage in India with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress trading charges, an official government spokesperson weighed in on Friday, 21 February, with a mealy-mouthed comment that information put out by the DOGE on USAID activities “are obviously very deeply troubling.”Parroting the party line, he said, “This has led to concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs” — and added that the government “was looking into this matter.” The refrain was repeated by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.On Friday, The Indian Express put out a report that the $21 million was sanctioned for Bangladesh in July 2022 for the “Amar Vote Amar” (my vote is mine) scheme, and by the time of cancellation, $13.4 million had been utilised. That has hardly stilled the controversy. The official spokesperson declined to respond to the report. Meanwhile, The Washington Post published a report on Saturday, saying that it had found “no evidence that $21 million was due to be spent for voter turnout in India or for any other purpose.”Not surprisingly, US President Donald Trump has played a major role in stirring the witches' brew of confusion. Here is a timeline of what he has said on the matter so far:19 February: “I have a lot of respect for India. I have a lot of respect for the Prime Minister. He just left, as you know, two days ago. But we’re giving $21 million for voter turnout. It’s voter turnout in India. What about, like, voter turnout here? Oh, we’ve done that, I guess.”19 February: Later in the evening at an investor summit in Miami, Trump read out the list of recipients of the USAID funding and wondered, “Why do we need to spend $21 million for voter turnout in India? Wow, $21 million! I guess they were trying to get someone else elected. We have got to tell the Indian government… This is a total breakthrough: $21 million for India elections.”21 February: Speaking at the Republican Governor’s Association meeting, he said “$21 million for voter turnout in India… Why are we caring about India’s turnout, we got enough problems.”“It’s a kickback scheme…can you imagine all the money going to India.”22 February: Speaking at the Republican Governor’s Association Working Session, Trump said “$21 million going to my friend Prime Minister Modi in India for voter turnout… what about us? I want voter turnout, too.”22 February: Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, Trump remarked, “$18 million for helping India with its elections. Why the hell? They take advantage of us pretty good, one of the highest tariff nations in the world.” What Trump said (and meant) may have made sense only to himself, but the quick-shoot political spokespersons in New Delhi went on an overdrive. On the day the DOGE statement came out, Amit Malviya, the BJP spokesperson, accused the Congress of using external influence in India’s election process. He noted in a post on X: “Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!”.On the same day, in another post, Malviya raised the issue of an MoU signed between the Election Commission of India (ECI) – then headed by SY Quraishi – and the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES), an organisation linked to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation which in turn was funded by the USAID, Meta, Google, and Microsoft. The agreement was aimed at training foreign officials at the ECI’s training centre and did not involve financial obligations.Former chief election commissioner Quraishi termed the reports that the US provided funding for boosting voter turnout in India as “completely false and malicious”, adding that the report did not have an iota of fact.On Thursday, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad expanded the attack by levelling serious charges against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, for conspiring and weakening Indian democracy. Citing the $21 million charge, he said Trump had confirmed that the money was given for voter turnout. He said what the Congress had done was “a matter of disgrace for the country”.Meanwhile, in an attack mode after Trump’s 19 February statement, Malviya said Trump’s Miami remarks reaffirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that in the 2024 elections, foreign powers were trying to stop him from coming into power. In a post in X, he alleged that in London before the 2024 elections, Gandhi had urged foreign powers to intervene in India’s internal affairs and aligned himself with global networks seeking to undermine India’s strategic and geopolitical interests.” Some BJP elements even claimed that the Modi government had ended USAID programmes in India, though the actual fact, as Moneycontrol noted, is that in the last four years, India got some $650 million from the USAID. These were some of the highest allotments since the 1980s.Cutting off the aid will severely affect the health sector, which receives two-thirds of the allocation. Other sectors that stand to be affected include the education sector, water, sanitation and hygiene, energy and environment, and so on.Following the revelation that the $21 million was meant for Bangladesh, the Congress demanded an apology from the BJP on Friday, saying the ruling party’s narrative was aimed at its own use of foreign funds to destabilise governments led by them. The Congress' General Secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X, “Lies first mouthed in Washington. Lies then amplified by the BJP’s Jhoot Sena. Lies made to be debated on the Godi media. Lies now thoroughly exposed. Will the liars apologise? “The party brought out a 41-page pamphlet with pictorial “evidence”, where Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that the entire “$21 million USAID funds narrative” was aimed at diverting attention from the BJP’s own sins “of using foreign funds to destabilise Congress governments in India, including the UPA.” He raked up everything, from the anti-cow slaughter agitation of the 1960s, the Emergency of the 1970s, and charged the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of working with the US.Focusing on the activities of the present period, he attacked Smriti Irani, “a former brand ambassador for USAID", for attending a panel discussion organised by it. He referred to the recent MoUs signed between government agencies and the USAID as instances of the body's involvement in areas ranging from the Railways to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.Khera also asked why Modi as an RSS pracharak had visited the US and held meetings with a US group which “was practically funded by USAID?” Demanding a White Paper, Khera said the Congress does not consider development agencies like the USAID as unscrupulous. But there was need for some answers and clarifications for the alleged “Deep State” narrative started by the BJP supporters to demonise the USAID.There is little doubt that states can and do interfere in elections in other countries. Indeed, countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh have often accused India of doing so. Recently, Canada, too, charged that India and Pakistan have attempted to interfere in its elections. As for the US, it has an old history of election interference in different parts of the world, including India.Actually, the ECI, too, has programmes with other countries on elections. Its website says that it has signed MoUs with 29 electoral management bodies and three international organisations — the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), and the United Nations. But these are fairly innocuous, and no large sums of money appear to be involved. The problem arises if you want to deliberately assign sinister motives to the host country, as seems to have happened in the case of the USAID.(The writer is a Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)

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Amid Political Hysteria Over USAID, A Question: Can India Afford to Cut Off Aid?

Donald Trump stoked the USAID voter-turnout funding row, now Indian politicians have latched on to the slugfest.

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Topics: donald trump Voter turnout Narendra Modi in US