To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comment by India's former Foreign Minister, Nirupama Rao, in 2010, that India should not accept any further aid from the United Kingdom because of "the negative publicity of Indian poverty promoted by the Department for International Development".

The Government have substantially changed its programme to India since 2010. The current view of India's Ministry of External Affairs is set out in a statement of 8 February; "India appreciates co-operation extended by UK in a number of areas, which have contributed to India's overall development efforts, particularly through capacity building, exchange of best practices, knowledge sharing and sharing of technology and technical expertise. The bilateral co-operation between India and UK has been and remains mutually beneficial."