Britain winding down aid to India

A senior aid official on Sunday confirmed Britain was winding down its aid programme to India, cheering critics who called for it to be cut after a series of perceived snubs from the Asian powerhouse. Britain has spent £1 billion ($1.6 billion, 1.2 billion euros) on aid programmes in India over the past five years, with another £600 million committed until 2015.
However, there is little prospect of that sort of package being renewed as India's economy booms, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell told The Sunday Times newspaper.
Prime Minister David Cameron has faced calls to cut the aid handouts after the former jewel in the crown of the British empire appeared to spurn trade deals.
But the Department for International Development insisted the current programme would run to its conclusion.
"We are walking the last mile with them," Mitchell said.
"I completely understand why people question the aid programme to India, and we questioned it ourselves.
"That's why we reviewed every aspect of it when we came into government (May 2010) and changed it fundamentally. The fact is we didn't mess around. ... We won't be there forever."
London was stunned in February when New Delhi announced a big contract to buy French warplanes instead of the UK-backed Eurofighter Typhoon, despite intense efforts by the British government to boost trade.
Cameron - who led a huge business delegation to India soon after taking office in 2010 - has pledged to press New Delhi to reverse its decision.
Britain faces another austerity budget on Wednesday in a bid to rein in Britain's deficit. However, funding for foreign aid has increased under Cameron.
The government plans to enshrine in law his pledge to spend the United Nations target of 0.7 percent of gross national income on foreign aid.
A YouGov survey in The Sunday Times found that 66 percent thought Britain spent too much on foreign aid and 69 percent thought Britain should stop giving aid to India. YouGov polled 1,727 adults on Thursday and Friday.
A foreign aid spokeswoman told AFP that Britain's position on aid to India had not changed since the bilateral aid review of March 2011 and the current programme would be seen through.
"The UK's position remains the same - nothing has changed," she said.
"The Indian government has made huge progress on tackling poverty but there is a huge need in India.
"We will not be there forever ... but now is not the time to end the programme."
Aid to Russia and China has also been subject to the axe since Mitchell took over his brief.