NEW DELHI: The Indian government is looking into reports of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding election-related activities, with the external affairs ministry on Friday describing the matter as “deeply troubling” since it relates to foreign interference in internal affairs.
Various government agencies, departments and ministries are looking into the matter, which has become a hot button issue in domestic politics since the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on February 16 that it cancelled allocations of hundreds of millions of dollars by USAID around the world, including $21 million for “voter turnout in India”.
“We have seen the information that has been put out by the US administration regarding certain USAID activities and funding. These are obviously very deeply troubling,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.
“This has led to concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs. Relevant departments and agencies are looking into this matter,” he said.
Jaiswal declined to give details as to whether the USAID funding had already been disbursed and the government bodies that are looking into the matter. “It would be premature to make a public comment at this stage,” he said.
Many Indian government agencies and several ministries have worked with USAID, and all of them are looking into this issue, Jaiswal said.
“Therefore, first let them look into the matter, study the issues at hand and then, thereafter, we will come up with whatever we have to say,” he said.
People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that the ministries of home affairs, external affairs and finance, and specific ministries which have worked with USAID in the past such as the health ministry, are involved in the exercise.
The US side has provided no further information on the issue and USAID itself has not been forthcoming with any details, they said.
The matter has been further complicated by the nature of the claims being made by DOGE, which has provided no information to back up its accusations, the people said.
According to a post on X by DOGE, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk, action was taken to cancel the spending of US taxpayer dollars in countries around the world, ranging from “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia” to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh” and “voter turnout in India”.
The post on X had said the “$21M for voter turnout in India” was part of an allocation of $486 million to the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS). USAID’s CEPPS programme was meant to strengthen local and national capacity to promote good governance and was implemented by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI).
The people also said it was too early to conclude that the $21 million was meant for Bangladesh, and not India, as was suggested by a media report. “We really won’t be able to know until the matter has been examined. USAID should come out with the details,” one person said.
Trump, whose administration has launched an unprecedented crackdown on USAID, the agency that has overseen US assistance around the globe since the 1960s, as part of efforts to slash government spending and jobs, has brought up the reported funding for India in public comments on more than one occasion.
On Wednesday, he told an event in Miami: “Why do we need to spend $21 million for voter turnout in India? Wow, $21 million. I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian government.”
A day earlier, Trump defended DOGE’s decision to halt funding for USAID at Mar-a-Lago and said, “Why are we giving $21 million to India? They got a lot of money there. One of the highest taxing countries in the world in terms of us.”
The Trump administration’s accusation has already led to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) describing the USAID funding as “external interference” that benefited the opposition Congress.
The Congress has denied the allegations and described Trump’s claims as “nonsensical”. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on X on Friday that “lies [were] first mouthed in Washington” and then amplified by the BJP. Ramesh also said the government should issue a white paper detailing USAID’s support to governmental and non-governmental institutions in India over the decades.