India never asked Britain for hundreds of millions of pounds in foreign aid and doesn’t even need it, the country’s new High Commissioner to the UK said.
Britain sent India £279million in 2014 alone – despite the fact the country has its own space programme and is planning to spend £10billion on a fleet of warships.
Plans are in place to give India a further £130million in ‘technical assistance’ by 2018. But YK Sinha said the foreign aid deal is becoming a thing of the past and that the future priority should be getting a good trade deal sorted out.
‘While I don’t want to prejudge British aid that has been given, or will be given, easier access to British markets, easier movement of people and the transfer of technology are more important,’ he told the Sunday Express.
‘We are grateful for any assistance we received in the past or will get in the future. But if it suddenly stopped would it make a huge difference? No. Did anyone in the government of India ask for assistance? No.’
Mr Sinha said the relationship between Britain and India has reached a ‘new level’ and that the ‘sky’s the limit’ for what the countries can achieve together.
Plans are in place to give India a further £130million in ‘technical assistance’ by 2018.
Mr Sinha added: ‘While I don’t want to prejudge British aid that has been given, or will be given, easier access to British markets, easier movement of people and the transfer of technology are more important.
‘We are grateful for any assistance we received in the past or will get in the future.’ It has been suggested the deal could be scrapped to make way for a ‘win-win’Brexit trade agreement.
Last month India boasted about a record-breaking space mission as Britain continues to pour millions of pounds of aid money into the country. The rocket carrying 104 satellites launched last week.
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