US asks India to uphold its commitment to religious freedom

• Our annual report on international religious freedom outlines some of the concerns we’ve taken note of when it comes to India: Ned Price
• ‘We encourage and will continue to encourage the Indian government to hold its commitment to protecting religious freedom for all’
• Rights groups slam the state department for not designating India as “countries of particular concern

A top US official said that Biden administration will continue to encourage India to uphold its commitments to protect religious freedom, days after rights groups slam the state department for not designating India as “countries of particular concern”.

US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price, talking to media, said, “India of course, is the world’s largest democracy. It is home to a great diversity of faiths. Our annual report on international religious freedom outlines some of the concerns we’ve taken note of when it comes to India. And we continue to carefully monitor the religious freedom situation in all countries and that includes India.”

“We encourage and will continue to encourage the Indian government to hold its commitment to protecting religious freedom for all,” Price added.

“We engage officials regularly on steps they can take to advance religious freedom. As the world’s two largest democracies, the United States and India, we’re also committed to an enduring project,” he said.

Responding to a question on why India was not designated by the US government as a Country of Particular Concern on the issue of human rights, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that India was the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths, reported PTI.

The US has designated 12 countries, including China, Pakistan and Myanmar, as “countries of particular concern” for the current status of religious freedom in these nations.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday said: Today, I am announcing designations against Burma (Myanmar), the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as ‘countries of particular concern’ under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

“There is no justification for the State Department’s failure to recognise Nigeria or India as egregious violators of religious freedom, as they each clearly meet the legal standards for designation as CPCs. USCIRF is tremendously disappointed that the Secretary of State did not implement our recommendations and recognise the severity of the religious freedom violations that both USCIRF and the State Department have documented in those countries,” the commission’s chairperson, Nury Turkel, said in a statement.

In an unusual year-end update, as reported by PTI, the USCIRF had alleged that religious freedom and related human rights in India are under ongoing threat. It was the fourth time in a row that the Commission found “severely deteriorating” religious freedoms in India.