The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that allegations about foreign interference through $21 million in funding from the United States government for “voter turnout” were “deeply troubling”.

“We have seen information that has been put out by the US administration regarding certain US activities and funding,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the ministry, said in a press briefing. “This has led to concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs.”

The Indian Express has since reported that the US government’s alleged $21 million funding was meant for Bangladesh, not India.

The government is looking into the claims, Jaiswal added.

On Sunday, the Department of Government Efficiency under US President Donald Trump’s administration announced that it had cancelled several international aid initiatives through the United States Agency for International Development “costing taxpayers’ dollars”.

USAID is an independent agency that is mainly responsible for administering foreign aid and development assistance on behalf of the US government. Trump had on January 24 imposed a 90-day freeze on money distributed by the organisation pending a review by the US State Department.

The list of initiatives for which funding was revoked on Sunday included $486 million in grants to the nonprofit organisation Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), including an alleged grant of $21 million “for voter turnout” in India.

The consortium comprises three organisations – the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and The International Foundation for Electoral Systems – that support elections and political transitions globally. It is funded by the USAID Global Elections and Political Transitions Program.

The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Trump’s senior adviser and billionaire Elon Musk, has not provided further details, including the Indian entity or organisation that was allegedly meant to receive the money.

On Wednesday, however, Trump said he “guessed” that the previous administration in the US was “trying to get somebody else elected” in India by having allegedly provided $21 million for voter turnout.

“What do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India?” Trump asked. “I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected.”

He added: “We need to tell the Indian government because when we hear that Russia was trying to spend two dollars in our country, it was a big deal, right? They [Russia] took some internet ads for 2,000 dollars. This is a total breakthrough.”

Trump did not mention when the alleged disbursement of funds took place and did not provide evidence to back his claims.

His comments came a day after he defended his administration’s decision to cancel the funds.

On Thursday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that Trump’s comments had “confirmed” foreign attempts to influence the Indian electoral processes.

“[Trump’s claim] is a reaffirmation of Prime Minister Modi’s assertion during the 2024 campaign that foreign powers were trying to stop him from coming to power,” the BJP’s publicity chief Amit Malviya said on social media.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had “aligned himself with global networks seeking to undermine India’s strategic and geopolitical interests, acting as a tool for foreign agencies”, Malviya claimed.

The Congress, however, dismissed Trump’s remarks, calling them “nonsensical”. The Opposition party demanded a white paper on USAID’s financial support to government and non-governmental organisations in India.

‘The Indian Express’ report on USAID funding

On Friday, The Indian Express, citing federal spending records, reported that the US government’s alleged $21 million funding “for voter turnout” was for Bangladesh, not India.

The report added that no CEPPS project had been funded by the USAID in India since 2008. Every US federal grant is linked to a specific “place of performance”, or the country where it is meant to be spent.

The newspaper reported: “The only ongoing USAID grant to CEPPS matching the denomination of $21 million and the purpose of voting was sanctioned … in July 2022 for USAID’s Amar Vote Amar (My Vote is Mine). This is a project in Bangladesh.”

The grant is meant to run for three years ending in July 2025.

Congress reaction

Later on Friday, the Congress, citing The Indian Express report, said that the allegations made by Washington and the BJP were “lies”.

In a post on social media, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said: “Lies first mouthed in Washington. Lies then amplified by BJP’s Jhoot Sena. Lies made to be debated on Godi media.”

The Rajya Sabha MP added: “Lies now thoroughly exposed. Will the liars apologise?”

In a press conference during the day, Congress leader Pawan Khera also said that the entire “$21 million USAID funds narrative” raised by the BJP, along with its parent organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was done to divert attention from their “own sins” of using foreign funds to destabilise previous Congress governments.

“Official documents prove that,” he claimed. “[Prime Minister Narendra] Modiji’s best friend Trump had perhaps intentionally or unintentionally made a faux pas through the DOGE. But the fact that the RSS-BJP ecosystem shamelessly latched onto it, without examining the facts, tells you that it wanted to hide its own acts of commissions in damaging India’s democracy.”