India says U.S. election aid allegations ‘deeply troubling’

U.S. DOGE says it cancelled $21 million in USAID funds for ‘voter turnout’ in India; External Affairs Ministry declines to comment on whether the govt is reviewing USAID’s ongoing partnerships with multiple Ministries

The Union government on Friday (February 21, 2025) said it was investigating “very deeply troubling” allegations made by the U.S. government that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) planned to spend $21 million on funding “voter turnout” in India.

This planned expenditure has been cancelled by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) run by technocrat billionaire Elon Musk, in a decision shared in a post on X on Monday (February 17, 2025), along with the details of cancelled USAID funding for several other countries as well.

In the Indian government’s first reaction to the DOGE post, the Ministry of External Affairs said that different departments are “looking into” the information shared, but declined to comment on whether India would cancel a number of MoUs and agreements on USAID funding made with various Ministries over the past few years, many of which are still current.

The MEA also would not comment on a report by the Indian Express that suggested the information shared by DOGE was false, as the USAID funding had been sent to Bangladesh, not India.

‘Looking into the matter’

“We have seen information that has been put out by the U.S. administration regarding certain USAID activities and funding,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “These are obviously very deeply troubling. This has led to concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs,” he added, referring to statements made by both the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress, blaming each other for engaging with USAID, which was set up in 1961.

Mr. Jaiswal said that “relevant departments and agencies are looking into this matter,” and their reports were awaited.

In its post, the DOGE said that “U.S. taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all of which have been cancelled,” including “$486M to the ‘Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening’ [CEPPS], including $22M for ‘inclusive and participatory political process’ in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India”.

While the DOGE has not furnished any details of what this “voter turnout” funding was meant for, it named CEPPS, funded by USAID, as the donor agency to India. Both the USAID and CEPPS websites have been taken down since the DOGE ordered a “freeze” on USAID activities.

Multiple partnerships

Data still available online however, indicates that USAID has allocated about $650 million to India since 2020, about one-fifth of its total funding to India of $2.86 billion since 2001. On the MEA’s website, most joint statements between India and the U.S. have mentioned USAID agreements and frequently praised the agency’s role in working on health, sanitation, critical minerals, climate change, COVID-19 and other areas in India, as well as for third-country and Quad projects. 

The MEA declined to respond to a specific question from The Hindu about whether these partnerships would now be reviewed, saying “it would be premature to make a public comment at this stage”.

Also read | Former CEC Quraishi slams reports of funding by U.S. agency for raising voter turnout in India

As recently as September 2024, the Quad Summit included USAID’s pledge of $1.58 billion for the vaccine alliance, including HPV vaccines for young girls. In June 2024, USAID representatives were part of the iCET (Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology) meeting chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his then-U.S. counterpart Jake Sullivan. USAID partnered with India as co-chair of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure’s Governing Council and Executive Committee from 2022 to 2024. 

In addition, a number of Ministries have signed MoUs with USAID in recent years, including the MEA’s Development Partnership Administration for promoting “global stability and prosperity” in countries in Asia and Africa; the Education Ministry for funding IITs, particularly IIT Gandhinagar; the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare for agricultural training; the Department of Science and Technology under the Government-to-Government India-U.S. Science and Technology Forum; and the Ministry of Health for Tuberculosis and HIV projects, among others. USAID is also partnering with the Prime Minister’s 500 Cities National Urban Development Mission and Clean India Campaign Urban for water and sanitation projects.

Published - February 21, 2025 04:49 pm IST