United Kingdom aid to India is fragmented, lacks strategy, and is unsatisfactory in many areas, according to a scathing report published today by an independent watchdog.
In its UK Aid to India report, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact found that the U.K. provided £2.3 billion ($2.8 billion) of aid to India between 2016 and 2021, making it the 11th largest recipient of U.K. aid, and the largest overseas mission.
But India is a fast-growing economy and there are questions about the degree to which it needs or wants help from donors. On the one hand, it says it now actually gives more aid than it receives, but on the other, poverty remains a major issue in the country, as do threats to democracy and civic space.