INDIA PUTS U.S. CHARITY FORD FOUNDATION ON SECURITY WATCHLIST

India has put the U.S.-based Ford Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable funds, onto a security watchlist as it probes its funding of a local organisation run by a prominent activist and critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The home affairs ministry said it would “keep watch on all the activities” funded by the Ford Foundation and instructed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to check with the government before passing any money from the New York-based group to local organisations.

All funds distributed by the foundation should be “utilized for bonafide welfare activities without compromising on concerns for national interest and security”, the ministry said in a letter to the RBI published online.