US Aid to South Asia
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
1946-2012
The Times of India, Jul 16 2015
Chidanand Rajghatta
India top recipient of US economic aid in 66 years
India has been identified as the largest recipient of US economic assistance over a 66-year period in inflation-adjusted dollars although Washington's pet allies, Israel and Pakistan, received far more American dole in per capita terms. Data compiled by USAID and released recently shows that India received $65.1 billion in economic assistance from the US in inflation-adjusted dollars in the period 1946-2012, closely followed by Israel, which received $65 billion. But considering Israel's population is less than 10 million compared to India's 1.2 billion-plus, the Jewish state has received 100 times more aid per capita than India.
US assistance to India currently is only around $100 million after New Delhi embarked on a course of weaning itself away from aid to trade in the 1990s. The difference between India and US client states such as Israel, Pakistan, Egypt, South Korea and others becomes all the more stark when one examines the American military assistance negligible in the case of India -to these countries.
In addition to the $65.1 billion in economic aid, Israel received a staggering $134 billion in military support during the same period to enable its survival. Pakistan, which received $ 44.4 billion in economic aid for a population one-sixth of India's, also got with $12.9 billion in military assistance from the US through regular channels, not counting the billions it bilked more recently in the form of coalition support funds.
In contrast, India received a modest $897 million in military assistance (mostly in the aftermath of the India-China war in 1962) placing it 47 out of a list of 193 countries that have received US military aid.More recently , India has been purchasing billions of dollars worth of US military equipment and technology .
