INDIAN Aid to strife ton ‘Nicaragua has been severely criticized by US. Politicians, who have urged the Reagan Administration to stop all assistance to India in protest.

The Indian government has agreed to give Rs. 125 million in aid to Nicaragua, The commit. Ment was made by the Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, when the President of Nicaragua, Mr. Daniel Ortega, visited New Delhi last year.

USS. Senators and Congressmen have repeatedly stated that all aid to India should be stopped. Congressman William Cobey of North Carolind said: “It is time that we end our aid to India until it stops supporting the spread of Communism in Central America and Until it ends its internal repression of Sikhs in Punjab.

Mr.Cobey said that it seemed that India had reached a state where it had a surplus in foreign aid. “Since 1983, we have given India about $613 million in economic assistance. More than 75 percent of this amount was in grants. Now India is giving economic aid to the Nicaraguan government while completely ignoring the terror that the Sandinistas are spreading in our own backyard.”

Other American politicians who have called for pressure on India are Mr, Dan Burton of Indiana, Mr. Gene Chappie, Mr. George Miller, Mr. Ronald Dellums, Mr. Robert Dornan, Mr. Vic Fazio (all of California), Mr. Edward Feighan and Ms, Mary Rose Oakar (both of Ohio), Mr. Jessie Helms of North Carolina and Mr. William Lipiniski of Illinois.

Sikh leaders in the US.A. Claim the issue at their behest.

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the International Sikh ‘Organization, told the Tribune that “Sikhs had drawn the attention of the US.A. To the issue of Indian aid to Nicaragua, I’s we who have exposed the double-dealing of India, on one side it takes aid from the US.A. Saying it is a democracy and on the other it represses human rights in Punjab and extends aid to the Nicaraguan dictatorship for suppressing Contra rebels”.

The claim does not seem unfounded as most US. Politicians have made a reference to Indian aid to Nicaragua while speaking ‘on the Punjab issue.

According to the Indian Embassy in Panama, which looks after Nicaraguan, India and Nicaragua have signed a three tier agreement which stipulates Indian ‘goods and services for Nicaragua, cultural exchanges and a memorandum of understanding.

Indian aid has already started flowing into the troubled central ‘American country.

Mr. Sen Gupta, Press Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Panama, said aid worth Rs, 70 million had already been extended. This included tractors, other agricultural ‘machinery and equipment, hand tools, and spare parts,

But he regretted that the Nicaraguan government was slow in taking advantage of India’s assistance.

India, he said, also proposed to give pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals, steel products, trucks, and engineering goods to Nicaragua under the agreement. “Textile units in Nicaragua are in bad shape. So we will be extending the services of Indian experts as also providing spare parts to get them working again”, he added,

Ms, Lidia Forbes of the Nicaraguan Ministry of Culture said some progress had been made in the cultural field too. Indian classical dancers — Raja and Radha Reddy — performed the kuchipudi here late last year. It was the first ever visit of an Indian cultural troupe and drew a packed house in Managua,” she said,

Lila Samson’s classical dance show here on November 13 this year had the audience back in as many numbers, P Ms. Forbes said a festival of Indian films, dubbed in Spanish, ‘organized in April this year was also very popular.

She, however, said that the “affair between India and Nicaragua as yet is very casual. But we hope to strengthen ties. The stumbling block is our poor economy”.

“We Nicaraguans have a lot of interest in Indian mythology and folk tales,” she said and added that her country hoped to send the Macehualt and Grupo Nicaraguense folklore performers to India shortly.

Article extracted from this publication >>  December 11, 1987