New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today said the revelations by the Trump administration about USAID giving $21 million for “voter turnout in India” are “concerning” and added that the government is looking into it and the facts will come out.
Answering questions at the Delhi University Literature Festival, the EAM said: “Some information has been put out there by the Trump administration, and obviously it is concerning.
“It would suggest that there are activities which have a certain objective — to push a certain narrative or a viewpoint. As a government we are looking into it… my sense is the facts will come out.”
He said the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was allowed in India “in good faith, to do good faith activities”.
“Now suggestions are being made out of America, that there are activities that are in bad faith; so it surely warrants a look. If there is something to it, the country should know who are the people involved in the bad faith activities,” he added.
Referring to his book ‘Why Bharat Matters’, the EAM said there is a chapter in it about such kind of issues.
In apparent reference to American billionaire philanthropist George Soros and his Open Society Foundation that is referred to as part of the “Deep State”, the EAM said: “There are a bunch of guys in the world who are not elected, they are self-selected, and they believe that they should decide what is good, what is bad, what are the norms, and rules; and for the past 25-30 years they had a huge domination, not just economic, but across countries…
EAM Jaishankar said that security is not just physical security, but it is “also about how your thought processes are influenced, how narratives are set, how facts are presented to you, how your mind is moulded without your even knowing it…”
“A lot of it is done through activities of NGOs, of tech, of global rankings, you are made to believe your democracy isn’t worth it, which is very dangerous and very Machiavellian..”
“Without reference to any specific organisation, the idea of what is security, your security can be threatened without your leaving your home, your thought processes, your morale, can be influenced without your moving out of your home, by what you read on your phone..” he added.
UNI
