Thanks but no thanks: Time for India to shut the door on foreign aid

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David Cameron came to power promising a new relationship with India. Turns out, India too wanted the same thing! By September 2010, India had decided it could do without British aid. That was communicated to the British. But six months later, India surprisingly survived a shake-up of Britain's aid review. Russia and China were off the list, India registered an insignificant 2 per cent rise. Aid from thereon would be focussed on three states - Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, the poorest of the poor - and limited to priority sectors.

Over in London, the British government's review of aid was intended to win over critics, the sceptical public for whom the financial crisis had begun to bite and the right wing among the ruling Conservative party. Emphasis was on results and value for money. It was a transparent review - much discussed, analysed, and panned! In contrast, we haven't heard from our government at all over its policy on receiving foreign aid - from Britain and from others. We don't know, for example, whether India was resisting only British aid or was that a part of a more broad-based and therefore more significant 'no' to all forms of foreign aid, including soft loans.

Meanwhile the discourse has inevitably become political. Balbir Punj, spokesperson of the Opposition BJP has been quoted as saying, "I'm surprised that an India which is seen as a rising economic power, in spite of the misgovernance by the UPA, should take these peanuts from the UK or anyone else. I will call upon the government to stop this ... immediately". CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury attacked the Tories specifically when he said, "Britain was reacting in a typical manner in which a conservative Tory-led government would react. They are saying if you are not meeting our interests, why should we give you any aid".

Of course to suggest that only the Tory-led coalition blends aid with self-interest is uncharitable. India's own aid programmes for Africa, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal, to name just a few, have been as much about furthering its influence in these countries as it is about giving a helping hand. But the centrist UPA would do well to hear both the Left and the Right. India today gives more foreign aid than it receives. It resents the poverty porn that is invariably peddled with hand-outs. It resists the attempted use of foreign aid as a geo-strategic tool (so noticeable in the passing over of the Typhoon). In any case, given our infamously leaky system, much of the foreign aid would surely be ending up in the pockets of officials and netas. Why not gently tell our friends overseas, there are others who are far more deserving of their charity.

By the way, if they really want to help, maybe they could open up their fiercely protected markets. Growth is arguably a more powerful antidote to poverty than dole.