UK financial aid to India to end

Despite India’s impressive economic progress, 1.6 million children died in India last year - a quarter of all global child deaths. We agree that in the longer term, aid to India should be phased out as the country continues to develop, but we believe that the poorest children will need our ongoing help, and to cut bilateral aid in 2015 is premature.

We welcome the UK’s commitment to provide technical assistance post-2015, and believe that even if aid is cut to the Indian government, the UK should explore ways to support Indian non-governmental groups that address the needs of the poorest and their work tackling the tough issues that are the obstacles to wider progress – children excluded from health and education because of gender or caste, child and maternal mortality and women’s and girls’ rights.

We welcome the UK’s pledge to commit 0.7% of GDP to foreign aid, and recognise their leadership in development.

After reviewing the programme and holding discussions with the Government of India this week, we agreed that now is the time to move to a relationship focussing on skills-sharing rather than aid.

Having visited India I have seen first hand the tremendous progress being made. India is successfully developing and our own bilateral relationship has to keep up with 21st Century India. It’s time to recognise India’s changing place in the world.

It is of course critical that we fulfil all the commitments we have already made and that we continue with those short-term projects already underway which are an important part of the UK and Government of India’s development programme.