One sixth of the world's people live in India and one third of the world's poor

. USAID's program in India supports U.S. national interests and contributes significantly to Indian development. Although constrained since 1998 by the imposition of sanctions imposed under the "Glenn Amendment", the program addresses four key U.S. national interests: (1) economic prosperity achieved through opening markets; (2) global issues of population growth, infectious diseases, and climate change; (3) development and democracy concerns of alleviating poverty, reducing malnutrition, and improving the status of women; and (4) humanitarian response by saving lives and reducing suffering associated with disasters.
In 2001, USAID addressed the suffering and dislocation caused by a major earthquake which rocked the state of Gujarat on January 26. In the first weeks after the quake, the United States Government marshalled $12.8 million in emergency assistance. USAID has reprogrammed another $10 million in previously budgeted funds for the Gujarat reconstruction effort. USAID is working with the Government of India (GOI) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to strengthen their ability to anticipate and respond to future disasters.
Prospects for India's future are bright but approximately 360 million still live in absolute poverty. Many challenges need to be addressed to reduce the pervasive poverty. India is surpassed only by China in population. The high rate of population growth, particularly in urban areas, hits hardest at the poor. Despite gains in food production, nearly half of India's children are malnourished. Although the percentage of HIV infections per capita is small, India is second only to South Africa in the number of HIV infections. India contributes to the world's caseload of other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and polio. Further, it is the sixth-largest and second-fastest growing producer of greenhouse gases. Large central and local-state government fiscal deficits, reflected in deteriorating infrastructure, threaten the sustainability of impressive gains in poverty reduction over the past several decades.
USAID's non-humanitarian assistance programs were interrupted in May 1998 by the imposition of sanctions on U.S. assistance. In March 2000, a presidential waiver was issued that allowed USAID to resume financial sector reform activities.
Other USAID, centrally funded programs in India complement the bilateral population stabilization, child survival, HIV/AIDS and micro-enterprise activities. The American Schools and Hospital Abroad program helps strengthen Indian hospitals that demonstrate American ideas and practices.
Development Challenge
India's ability to achieve sustainable growth and reduce poverty depends greatly on its ability to stabilize population growth. The Indian population has already reached one billion; it will surpass China's population by 2040. Since a lack of access to quality reproductive health services hinders population stabilization, the USAID program focuses on improving the quality and access to reproductive health services in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh (170 million people



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