British MPs question aid to India over Chandrayaan-2 "splurge"

September 04, 2018 09:29

Some of Britain's MPs from the ruling Conservative party questioned the UK government's financial assistance programme for India, which will involve 52 million (Rs 476 crore) for 2018-19 and 46 million (Rs 421 crore) for 2019-20.

A few weeks after the government's Department for International Development released its "India Profile" for the coming years in July, Tory MP David Davies said India did not "want or need" UK aid and that "in effect we are sponsoring an Indian moon launch".

In reference to India's 95.4 million (Rs 874 crore) "splurge" on lunar probe Chandrayaan-2, which is expected to launch later this year, other Tory MPs also attacked the financial assistance ear-marked for India.

"Here we are spending money in a country that has not only got its own space programme but is developing its own overseas aid programme. To be honest, the government needs looking at if it thinks that is an appropriate way of spending taxpayers' money," Tory MP Phillip Davies told 'Daily Express', a newspaper which runs campaigns against what it believes is the UK's unnecessary foreign aid spending as opposed to domestic expenditure.

"It needs to get out of Whitehall and appreciate the public is not just sick and tired of this but angry too. It is completely unjustifiable and truly idiotic," Davies added.

However, DfID stressed that none of the financial assistance marked for India was intended for its space programme.

-- PTI

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