British Media’s Jealousy Exposed After Chandrayaan-3’s Success! Journalists Ask India to Return Supposed £2.3 Billion Aid

British Media’s Jealousy Exposed After Chandrayaan-3’s Success! Journalists Ask India to Return Supposed £2.3 Billion Aid

On August 23, 2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the lunar landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the Moon, marking a key milestone in India’s space exploration operations. This historic achievement places India as the first country to successfully land on the Moon’s South Pole, as well as the fourth nation to perform a soft landing on Earth’s natural satellite.

The successful mission, which was welcomed with joy across the country, represents a tremendous achievement in India’s ongoing effort to improve its space science capabilities. The landing on the Moon’s South Pole, a strategic interest as a result of its potential water resources, gives up new possibilities for scientific investigation as well as future space missions.

The happy event, nevertheless, has generated controversy as some Western voices have expressed displeasure with the handing out of foreign aid. Concerns about foreign countries, mainly Britain, giving money to India have sparked the uproar. A lot of these assertions have been widely attributed to people who identify as journalists, although their claims are not entirely uncontested.

A prominent critic is Patrick Christys, a GB News presenter who attacked India’s space programs along with its acceptance of foreign aid. India’s accomplishment was acknowledged at the beginning of Christys’ program, but he swiftly changed the subject, drawing criticism on social media for what some have dubbed a “jealous racist rant.”

Christys demanded for India to repay the £2.3 billion in aid that the United Kingdom granted between the years 2016 and 2021. His words were further reinforced by comments about India’s poverty crisis, in which he questioned the reasonableness of financial assistance from foreign governments.

“I would like to congratulate India for landing on the dark side of the moon. I would also like to invite India to return the £2.3 billion of aid money that we sent them between 2016 and 2021. We are also set to give £597.03 million next year. But I think the British taxpayer should keep a hold of that. We should not be giving money to countries with a space program as a rule,” Christys stated in the video being circulated on X.

Christys went on to describe India as being “poverty-stricken” and counselled the UK government against providing more money. He questioned why they were giving money to impoverished Indians when India was capable of sending a rocket through space to the far side of the moon. He emphasized that, in accordance to the United Nations, India has the world’s greatest number of individuals who are living in poverty, at 229 million. He added that India possessed the fifth-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of about $3.75 trillion per year. He questioned openly why they needed outside financial assistance when their very own government seemed disinterested in dealing with the issues of the nation.

Other Britishers Joining The False Narrative

Another presenter from GB News, Nigel Farage, echoed a comparable sentiment by claiming that Britain had been providing financial aid to India. He expressed his opinion that foreign aid ought not to be allocated to a nation which has adequate resources to accomplish moon landings. Farage further went ahead and accused India of neglecting its population as well as criticized the allocation of funds to areas like space exploration, military spendings, as well as nuclear weaponry, despite a substantial portion of the nation’s population is still living below the poverty line.

In a similar vein, GB News panellist Adam Brooks expressed his disapproval of the provision of foreign aid to India, while highlighting the country’s strides in space technology. He described the situation at hand as unjust. A number of members of GB News have come under fire for holding views that are thought to be reminiscent of a colonial mindset. They appear to believe that the British empire is charitable and seeks to advance humanity by providing financial aid.

Another British journalist, Sophie Corcoran, voiced opposition to aiding countries with sophisticated space programs. She referred to India’s recent achievement of successfully putting a spacecraft close to the south pole of the moon and disputed the justification for giving £33.4 million in foreign aid, with the intention of an increase next year.

Ben Habib, a former MEP for the Brexit Party, claimed that Britain’s assistance to India frequently goes neglected. He condemned the increase in aid contributions made to a nation that has a strong economy as well as access to space. Habib argued against the idea of aid as an instrument of soft power, contending that neither India nor the UK would materially profit from the funding.

The debate over bogus aid to India is not brand-new. In relation to India’s Chandrayaan-3 launch, British politician and leader of the British First party Paul Golding had previously addressed the UK’s “foreign aid” to India. Golding’s tweet praised India’s success in its space program while questioning the funding of foreign aid.

It is important to note that the British perspective appears to fail to recognize the fact that so-called aid being provided to India is directed not at the Indian government or government organizations, but rather at private charities as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), many of which function in ways that have been viewed as contrary to the nation’s interests.

Backlash Received by British Journalists

Many people criticized the journalists’ claims in the multitude of comments that were written in response to the video as well as the false narrative being set by the Britishers.

One person responded by criticizing what they saw to be a racial as well as jealous rant. They emphasized the historical context, noting that despite the economic abuse India endured during colonial times, it was able to overcome obstacles. This user emphasized India’s development as well as economic expansion, claiming that it had outperformed Britain in the global market. Another user reacted on the ongoing controversy by accusing the journalist of disseminating false information and then complaining when confronted about it.

The backlash majorly relied on a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson’s clarification that the UK had stopped giving financial support to the Indian government in 2015 in the context of their argument. Instead, the emphasis was now on corporate investments that would open up new markets as well as job prospects for the UK.

A third user used strong words to indicate their great disdain, calling the journalist “pathetic garbage” and displaying their anger. The journalist was used as a representation of what they regarded to be a prejudiced and conceited attitude amongst British.

In addition to this, all throughout the X community, there was a collective demand for the repatriation of the Kohinoor diamond, which symbolises historical grievances. Many commenters referred to a report which had been published by Columbia University Press, written by economist Utsa Patnaik.

This report mentioned in detail the significant wealth which had been taken out of India during the colonial era, approximately amounting to a staggering $45 trillion. Users expressed outrage, asking for global attention to the exploitation that India had endured. The phrase ’45 trillion’ gained traction on X as a trending subject, representing the widespread backlash directed at Christys and other British Journalists for their statements.

In a separate incident, Anand Mahindra addressed to a BBC anchor’s scepticism regarding India’s economic investment in a space program such as Chandrayaan-3 keeping in mind the other poverty issues in the nation. Mahindra objected to the anchor’s viewpoint, pointing out that India’s historical poverty has been largely a consequence of colonial rule, which systematically drained the subcontinent’s wealth and other resources. Mahindra alluded to the deeper impacts of colonial exploitation on India’s pride as well as self-belief, contrasting it with the symbolic importance of the Kohinoor diamond.

The Truth About UK’s Supposed “Aid” To India

The UK’s financial aid to India has come up for debate on several occasions. Former Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee viewed the £280 million (INR 2,798 crore) in annual aid from Britain as negligible back in 2012. British politicians responded to this perspective by raising the issue of whether it was necessary to continue providing this so-called “aid” to India. They argued that India’s independent foreign aid budget and self-funded space program rendered the UK’s help redundant. The UK planned to stop providing help to India in 2015 after India publicly showed that it was not interested.

The Indian government, however, reminded many experts as well as politically driven observers with a colonial mindset in 2017 that India had been giving more in the way of foreign aid to various other countries than it had been receiving. In March 2023, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) released findings indicating that the UK continues to provide aid to India, albeit with an altered purpose as well as character. Notably, UK government aid is evaluated by the ICAI, a separate independent organization from the government.

A significant amount of aid—about £2.3 billion (around INR 23,000 crore)—had been given to India by the UK between 2016 and 2021, according to the ICAI research. This amount was distributed in a variety of ways, including £441 million in direct aid, £129 million in development investments via the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), £749 million channelled through international organizations, as well as £1 billion through the British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution.

The ICAI emphasized that the BII’s objective was to carry out on a social level helpful deeds without suffering losses. The BII was founded in 1948 as the Colonial Development Corporation. It was observed that the BII maintained a sizable portfolio of 389 investments totalling £2.3 billion in India, making approximately 28 percent of its overall portfolio in 2021.

Importantly, the study made it clear that British aid was not sent to the Indian government directly but rather was used to fund a variety of initiatives inside of India, such as investments. It was highlighted that the nature as well as intent of the assistance had changed. It became clear that UK aid to India had dramatically shifted away from the traditional delivery of basic services like medical care and educational opportunities in the country’s most impoverished areas and toward efforts relating to development of infrastructure, as well as economic advancement.

Furthermore, an FCDO representative definitively reaffirmed that the UK has stopped giving money to the Indian government since 2015. According to this representative, the current funding strategy places a focus on corporate investments that are intended to open up new markets as well as job prospects for both the UK and India. Additionally, these investments were in the spirit of tackling shared problems like climate change.

British Jealousy Exposed By Indian Lunar Success

Questions about an underlying mindset that smells of jealously as well as an unwillingness to let go of the remnants of imperial superiority are raised by recent comments made by British media regarding India’s astounding performance with Chandrayaan-3. While it would have been expected that a developed country like Britain would extend warm congratulations as well as recognize the remarkable feat of India’s space experts in making a soft landing on the south pole of the moon, the response from Britain has been quite the other way around.

India’s accomplishment with Chandrayaan-3 is truly nothing short of revolutionary. It represents a quantum leap in space exploration, doing what even established space giants like the United States, China, and Russia had failed to accomplish after multiple efforts. In the face of such widespread acclaim, it’s surprising that Britain, while appreciating the significance of ISRO’s achievement, has chosen to focus on nitpicking as opposed to applauding.

Critics who argue that India should not devote money to space missions because of poverty or that space exploration is solely the domain of industrialized nations conveniently ignore the simple fact that British advances in space exploration have proven inadequate at best. If the developed world alone is responsible for carrying out such missions, Britain ought to question its own inability to land on the moon before doubting India’s success, right?

The underlying attitude disconnect between India as well as the UK serves to highlight this contradiction. With its extensive historical past and bright future, India has demonstrated great humility in the face of its achievements. This generous nature is highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that the Chandrayaan-3 accomplishment is a victory not just for India rather for all of humanity as a whole.

Britain, on the other hand, has a long history of exploitation, colonization, as well as control. While those times are long gone, elements of the imperial mindset appear to be alive and well in particular sections of the British media. Instead of recognizing India’s accomplishments and fostering a culture of friendship, they appear to be clinging to an inflated sense of pride that prevents genuine appreciation.

It is past time for the British media to let go of its superiority complex and acknowledge the shifting global scene. The period of imperial supremacy has given way to a multipolar world in which countries such as India have emerged as powerful contributors. Accomplishment in areas such as the exploration of space by erstwhile colonies like India is evidence of their advancement as well as tenacity.

India’s win is a triumph for global cooperation and scientific development as well as a celebration of national achievement. The British media should pay attention to the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s message of unity and cooperation instead of continuing to wallow in jealousy. The time has come to accept that real greatness does not lie in clinging to the distant past but rather in recognizing the achievements of every nation, irrespective of the past they have endured.