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Fact Check

US Halts Aid To India? Viral Govt Notice Shared Out Of Context

Written By Kushel HM, Edited By Pankaj Menon
Jan 28, 2025
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Claim
US halts its aid to India.

Fact
US has paused all foreign aid, barring Egypt and Israel, upon review of American financial assistance to other countries.

A purported circular from the US government has gone viral with the claim that US president Donald Trump has suspended financial aid to India. “Effective today, the Agreement Officer hereby issues an order for the recipient to immediately suspend performance under the agreement your organization was awarded by USAID/India…,” read the letter shared in the viral posts.

The archived version of the post can be seen here, which has clocked 54.2K views so far.

Fact Check

Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “US cuts foreign aid India”, which led us to this The Hindu report, dated January 27, 2025, stating that the United States has announced the suspension of all foreign aid and ordered the review of American financial assistance to other countries, to ensure they are efficient and consistent with its foreign policy under the ‘America First’ agenda after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in this regard.

Similar reports can be seen here and here, quoting state Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce who said, “President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative.” According to the reports, Bruce said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has paused all US foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for review.

Newschecker further learnt that just hours after taking office on Monday, Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy, while the U.S State Department issued a “stop-work” order on Friday for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid. According to the leaked internal memo sent to officials and US embassies abroad, seen by BBC, Reuters and New York Times, and issued by the Department’s foreign assistance office and approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, waivers have been issued for military financing for Israel and Egypt.  News reports on US halting foreign aid to all countries, barring Egypt and Israel, can be seen here, here, here and here.

Also, Newschecker noticed that the viral letter from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) stated, “… For additional guidance, please refer to ‘Notice on Implementation of Executive Order: Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid’ issued on January 25, 2025 by Jami J. Rodgers, USAID Senior Procurement Executive.”

We then looked up the notice, which clearly states, “In accordance with the President’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid and additional direction provided by the Department of State, USAID is pausing all new obligations of funding, and sub-obligations of funding under Development Objective Agreements (DOAGs), pending a review of foreign assistance programs funded by USAID…” The official US government press statement on the executive order can be seen here.

Also, according to the US government’s ForeignAssistance.gov portal, the actual disbursements for India by various American departments and agencies, including USAID, declined from $201.88 million in fiscal 2023 to $159.6 million in fiscal 2024, even as sources said the Trump administration’s decision is unlikely to have a major impact on the country.

UPDATE ON 30/01/2025: We then reached out to USAID regarding the viral claim where a spokesperson, in response to our e-mail, stated, “At this moment, in order to do a thorough review, all programs and grants without a waiver approved by the Secretary of State using foreign assistance funding are paused,” while sharing a media note released by the state department.

“Americans are a hardworking and generous people, who have sacrificed their blood and treasure to help their fellow man across the globe. But no foreign nation is entitled to those benefits, and no foreign aid program is above scrutiny. The previously announced 90-day pause and review of U.S. foreign aid is already paying dividends to our country and our people. We are rooting out waste. We are blocking woke programs. And we are exposing activities that run contrary to our national interests. None of this would be possible if these programs remained on autopilot,” read the statement.

Also Read: Republic Day 2025: Viral Photo Of Karnataka Tableau Featuring Tipu Sultan Is From 2014

Conclusion

US has suspended foreign aid to nearly all countries, not just India, as claimed in the viral posts sharing an official US government notice shared out of context.

Result: Missing Context

Source
The Hindu report, January 27, 2025
Reuters report, January 25, 2025
Press statement, US Department of State, January 26, 2025


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