Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu remarked that India should decline all forms of foreign aid, following reports that stated USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) had allocated millions of dollars for electoral processes in the country.
“India should decline all foreign ‘aid’ as a matter of principle. This policy is also good for US (and Western) taxpayers,” Vembu wrote in a post on X.
Was Trump's predecessor trying to defeat the Govt. in India & help the opposition?
Incidentally, US President Donald Trump questioned the former administration’s decision to allocate $21 million to “increase voter turnout” in India.
At the FII Priority Summit in Miami, Trump said, “Why do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India? I guess they (Biden administration) were trying to get somebody else elected. This is a total breakthrough.”
The US President pointed out that India is financially strong and among the “highest-taxing” countries in the world.
The controversy flared up after the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, announced the cancellation of several international funding programs, including the $21 million designated for voter turnout efforts in India.
As disclosed, the decision of the former US government was part of a broader rollback of US-funded initiatives, including $29 million for “strengthening the political landscape” in Bangladesh, $39 million for “fiscal federalism and biodiversity conservation” in Nepal, and $47 million for “improving learning outcomes in Asia.”
Recently, eminent economist Sanjeev Sanyal called USAID “the biggest scam in human history.”
In a post on X, he wrote, “Would love to find out who received the US$21mn spent to improve ‘voter turnout in India’ and the US$29mn to ‘strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh’; not to mention the US$29mn spent to improve ‘fiscal federalism’ in Nepal.”
Also read: Indian-origin Youtuber Stunned As Microsoft Boss Satya Nadella Responds To His Email & Appears On Podcast (startuppedia.in)
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