Newsbharati earlier reported that there have been several media reports which are claiming that India is the fourth largest donor of the UN Democracy Fund which funds at least 68 projects linked to George Soros-Open Society Foundation. Over this, liberals started to mislead the public why India which has hardline approach views towards Soros is donating funds to Soros organizations.

 

 

Responding to this, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, has stated all these separate issues. "Let me just make a larger point which you are saying about dealing with organizations of George Soros versus UN Democracy Fund. I think these are separate issues. And I think there's been an attempt to mix all this and have a perhaps little misleading image of the overall situation".

 

The MEA spokesperson said that India, as a responsible member of the UN, participates in and promotes various UN activities. "This includes contributing to a number of voluntary funds and programs of the UN. The UN Democracy Fund, the UNDEF, as you refer to, is one of them. Incidentally, this fund, this UN Democracy Fund receives funding from I think nearly 45 member states, including, of course, India, that you refer to. Now UNDEF allocates the funds or allocates the funds received, through numerous projects across the world. That projects being executed by various organizations. And in this process, it is guided by UN norms and procedures. So as I said, these funds are sent, allocated for various projects and across the world, and then various organizations implement this. So that's our contribution and participation in the UN, UNDEF advisory board or UNDEF organization itself."

 

Notably, the UNDF, set up in 2005 largely after joint efforts by India and the US, implements projects across the globe to support and strengthen civil society, human rights and democratic values. It receives funding from nearly 45 member states including India, Spain, the UK and the US. According to recent media reports, a significant number of projects funded by UNDEF were implemented by organisations connected to Soros’s Open Society Foundation (OSF).

 

So, in the backdrop of Jaishankar's criticism of Soros, there were speculations that while New Delhi was adopting a hardline position against the businessman and OSF domestically, it is not taking the same approach at the UNDEF on the foundation benefiting from its funding.

 

When asked during a media briefing on the reports, Bagchi said these are completely two separate issues and they are not connected. "Look, on the EAM's comments, I think they stand on their own merits. And I certainly wouldn't, you know, I don't think they require any clarification. All I would say is that, EAM's main point was that democracy, or people's verdict in democracies must be respected, not undermined. And this important principles should not be obfuscated."

 

Further, he also said, "And if I remember, the other last element was….Soros organization related to OSF….I think it was the Open Society Foundation, are not being allowed to send money here. That's a completely different issue. Insofar as any regulatory action is against any institution sending money to India is concerned, these are governed by our rules and regulations. And when necessary, relevant agencies take suitable measures as per the law. So I think these are three separate elements and I thought I’ll explain at length on that."

 

 

From 2005 through 2014, a time period which was run by the UPA government, India contributed huge amounts to the UN Democracy Fund. India gave $5 million each to the UN Democracy Fund in the year of 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011, when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister. However, there were no donations given in the years 2007 and 2010. Even in 2012, it had donated $4.71 million.

 

Further, when the BJP government took the power, the donation contributed to the UN Democracy Fund went down. India contributed $200,000 in 2014 and 2015, however, funding was reduced to $50,000 in 2016. There were no donations made in 2017. India donated $100,000 in 2018 and 2019. And in the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 India gave $150,000 to UN Democracy Fund.

 

This means the figures for donations had declined significantly since 2014.