Britain is to scrap aid to a range of countries including Kosovo, Bosnia and Iraq - but will continue giving £280 million a year to China, Birmingham MP Andrew Mitchell will reveal.
The nation’s aid budget is also set to continue rising, up from £7 billion today to £11 billion in 2015, even though other departments are being cut.
Mr Mitchell, MP for Sutton Coldfield, will announce the findings of a comprehensive review of aid spending in his role as International Development Secretary in David Cameron’s Government.
He will say that cash is to be pumped into countries torn apart by conflict such as Somalia or Yemen, in a bid to reduce the threat of terrorism from unstable parts of the world.
But India will still receive about £280 million a year, even though the country is seen as an emerging economic powerhouse with its own nuclear weapons programme and a space programme.
A second review will also announce that funding to some international organisations such as UNESCO, the United Nations cultural body, is to be axed.
But other bodies such as UNICEF, which provides emergency aid to children in famines or natural disasters, will see its contributions from the UK increased.
Mr Mitchell said: “Our development programme in India is part of a wide partnership which was re-energised by the Prime Minister during his visit last year.
“The fact is that if you want to reach these Millennium development goals, which we are also keen to do by 2015, you have to operate where poverty is greatest. In India there are more poor people in three states.. than there are in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
“Operating there in the way that we do is extremely effective in poverty alleviation and this is a country which itself has the largest (programme).... in trying to get people in to school, get girls and boys in to school, and tackle health priorities.”
He said the review would see British aid “much better focused” at areas in “greatest” need.
Labour claimed the Government was actually breaking its pledge not to cut Britain’s development budget by using aid money to fund other activities including £2 million for the Pope’s visit to the UK last year.
