New Delhi: US president Donald Trump has made his fifth mention of funds allegedly allocated by the United States Agency for International Development to improve voter turnout in India, even as multiple fingers point to the fact that such an amount was never really given in the first place.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 22, Trump brought up the United States Agency for International Development or USAID – a target of his newly instated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by billionaire Elon Musk.
DOGE had announced that a “$21 million” funding to India for “voter turnout” channelled via the Washington-based group Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) would be cancelled. The announcement led the Bharatiya Janata Party in India to claim that the funds were received during the Congress rule and that the opposition party had allowed foreign influence. However, USAID is embedded in a number of welfare projects by the Modi government also – a fact that several fact-checkers highlighted.
On Saturday, Trump claimed that the Joe Biden administration allocated $18 million in funding to India to help with its elections.
“Eighteen million dollars for helping India with its elections. Why the hell?” Trump said.
This is the first time a figure other than “$ 21 million” has come up in this regard. Trump has been playing up the DOGE cuts with added flourish each time.
“We’re giving money to India for elections. They don’t need money,” he added.
“They take advantage of us pretty good. One of the highest tariff nations in the world… We have 200% [tariffs] there and then we are giving them a lot of money to help them with their election,” Trump added.
‘No funding’
Meanwhile, the news agency PTI has reported that the latest annual report – 2023-24 – of the finance ministry has it that USAID funded seven projects worth US $ 750 million in 2023-24, in partnership with the Union government.
For that financial year 2023-24, an obligation of a total of US $ 97 million (about Rs 825 crore) has been made by the USAID.
During the 2023-24 financial year, crucially, no funding was received for enhancing voter turnout, the report notes.
This finding comes amidst discovery – through reports by The Washington Post and Indian Express – that there was no evidence that $21 million was spent or due to be spent for voter turnout in India “or for any other purpose.”
Three people with knowledge of regional aid programmes, spoke to WaPo on the condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation, expressed bewilderment over the claim and concern that it would “energise efforts by India’s right-wing government to further weaken civil society.”
$21 million, records accessed by Indian Express showed, was sanctioned in 2022 for Bangladesh, not India.
