New Delhi, February 21 (HS): The Ministry of External Affairs has expressed deep concern over reports of funding by the US government to Indian institutions and individuals. The concerned departments and agencies are looking into this matter.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday that reports of funding to Indian institutions raise concerns of foreign interference in India's internal affairs. He said that the concerned departments and agencies are looking into the matter. It would be premature to make any public comment in this regard. More information will be provided in this regard in the coming days.

US President Donald Trump had praised the funding action taken by Elon Musk and the Efficiency Department abroad. He had said that what does America have to do with increasing people's participation in India's voting. He had expressed the possibility that the then administration wanted the election of someone else (other than Narendra Modi) in India.

After this statement of Trump, a round of allegations and counter-allegations has started between BJP and Congress. BJP alleges that there was collusion between the opposition and the then US government and George Soros in the 2024 general elections. On the other hand, Congress has termed Trump's statement as absurd and has demanded the government to issue a white paper on this issue. Meanwhile, some media reports have claimed that no funds were allocated for India by USAID. The funds were actually allocated for Bangladesh. On the other hand, President Trump reiterated his old statement in the entire episode and said that it was actually a case of both bribery and brokerage. He expressed surprise as to who and why this bribe was given.

A list was released by the efficiency department led by Elon Musk in America, which mentioned the allocation of funds for voter turnout by the American organization USAID. Similarly, two crore 90 lakh dollars were allocated for Bangladesh. The efficiency department has canceled all these allocations.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar