Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction to the Official Development Assistance budget on the UK’s foreign aid budget for India, excluding money spent in emergency aid to support health infrastructure during India's second wave of covid-19.

We stand side by side with India as a friend and partner during what is a deeply concerning time in the fight against COVID-19. The UK has been the first country to deliver life-saving medical support to India and continues to work closely with the Government of India to identify what support we can provide in the coming days, based on their most pressing needs.

As the Foreign Secretary set out in his Written Ministerial Statement on 21 April, we have prioritised our aid to be more strategic and remain a force for good across the world. Since 2015, the UK has given no aid money to the Government of India. The FCDO makes investments and deploys world-leading expertise in areas of mutual interest. Our work in India reduces poverty, tackles climate change and creates new partners and markets for the UK.

Following a thorough review, the FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against a challenging financial climate of COVID. Throughout this process, we have strived to ensure that every penny of our aid brings maximum strategic coherence, impact and value for taxpayers' money. We are now working through what this means for individual programmes, in line with UK strategic priorities identified. We stand side by side with India as a friend and partner during what is a deeply concerning time in the fight against COVID-19. The UK is working closely with the Government of India to identify further assistance we can provide in the coming days, based on their most pressing needs.