US aid reduction to India draws flak

Washington, Mar 8 (UNI) Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos has expressed his ''profound dismay'' at what he called the 35 per cent ''unwarranted'' cut in US aid to India, reducing the quantum from 131 million dollars in 2007 to 81 million dollars in 2008.

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, copies of which were made available to press here last night, the Democratic lawmaker said it would send ''the wrong signal at the wrong time to our Indian counterparts and inadvertently jeopardising key elements of our increasingly multifaceted partnership with India.'' Mr Lantos said the aid reduction requested in the budget would effectively zero out highly successful US Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes in clean energy development, water and sanitation, women's rights, and basic education.

''Despite a decade of strong economic growth and a burgeoning middle class,'' he pointed out, ''India remains home to nearly a third of the world's poorest people. Authoritative studies by the World Bank reveal that in India today, 350 million people live on less than 1 dollar a day, more than 60 per cent of households are without electricity, about 20 per cent without a safe and clean water source, and over 70 per cent without adequate sanitation.'' Mr Lantos said, ''The proposed Fiscal Year 2008 foreign assistance budget disregards the critical priorities of our Indian partners, ironically casting doubt on the administration's commitment to the goal of transformational diplomacy at the very time when sweeping progress is within our grasp.'' Mr Lantos told the Secretary that ''this is no time for Washington to retreat from a strong, strategic commitment to helping India meet its pressing development goals. This is not only a humanitarian gesture that demonstrates US values, but also a smart investment in our future security and prosperity.'' He said, ''Regional experts have expressed concerns that a reduction in US foreign aid to India would jeopardise America's commitment to a Presidential-level agricultural initiative announced by President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at their historic July 2005 summit.'' Mr Lantos wrote that the administration's proposed fiscal year 2008 budget contained ''peremptory cuts that needlessly squander considerable US investment, influence and good will with the people of India.'' The letter, was drafted by Mr Lantos and his two other Democratic Congressmen, Gary Ackerman and Congressman Jim McDermott, and signed by members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. Mr McDermott chairs the Caucus.

''India is a strong and important US ally and our commitment to India must be about expanding our strategic partnership, and these programmes are needed to ensure that the more than just lip service,'' Mr McDermott said.

''The US and India are in the midst of benefits of that partnership are extended to all Indians,'' he added.

UNI