Four years ago, the then U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act.
The initiative aims to strengthen India-U.S. ties through the study of the "history and legacies" of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Funding and Regulatory Challenges
U.S. and Indian officials face hurdles posed by the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which has delayed funding for the initiative.
The initiative's estimated funding is approximately $40 million (₹335 crore).
The initiative required the establishment of three entities to achieve its goals:
Exchange Programme: Launched in 2021 in the U.S., this program selects 20 scholars each year for exchange.
Global Academy: To be established by the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington.
Gandhi-King Development Foundation: Progress on this entity has been slow due to scrutiny by Indian authorities regarding the funding mechanism and scope.
On June 17, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Delhi by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his U.S. counterpart Jake Sullivan.
Despite this MoU, Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials indicate that only preliminary discussions have occurred, with no clear proposal yet from the U.S.
A working group comprising MEA, USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development), and the Indian Embassy in Washington is working on finalizing the foundation's approach and contractual arrangements.
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