A top US official has stated that the Biden government will encourage India to enforce its responsibilities to defend religious freedom for everyone, days after America assigned 12 countries, such as China and Pakistan, as “regions of the world of particular concern.” India is home to a large diversity of faiths.
The current state of religious freedom in such countries has prompted US Minister of State Antony Blinken to identify 12 countries as “countries of great concern,” including China, Pakistan, and Myanmar. According to him, governments and non-state entities harass, threaten, imprison, and sometimes even kill people because of their religious convictions.
Ned Price, a spokeswoman for the State Department, explained that Asia was the largest democracy in the world and the centre of a huge diversity of religious beliefs in response to a question about why the US government had not designated it as a Country of Certain Major worry on human rights.
“Some of the India-related worries we’ve noted are outlined in our yearly report on global religious freedom. We continue to closely monitor the state of religious freedom in all nations, including India “Price stated to journalists on Tuesday.
According to him, the Biden government will keep pushing India’s leadership to honour its obligations to safeguard religious freedom for all.
“We frequently discuss with officials how they might improve religious freedom. The United States as well as India, the two biggest democracies in the world, are both dedicated to an ongoing endeavour” said he.
The project Secretary Blinken previously discussed is this one. the endeavour to forge a more perfect union, as our founders phrased it. Price stated that this is a program for both our nations.
“In order to demonstrate that both democracies can serve the interests of our people, we have collaborated and we can continue to do so. We must uphold our essential values, which include human rights respect like freedom of belief and freedom of thought or expression, indefinitely “In answer to a query, he stated.
“In turn, that strengthens each of our democracies. Given all the relevant information, Secretary Blinken came to the conclusion that India’s concerns regarding religious freedom do not warrant the designation of a nation of particular concern or inclusion on the special terrorist watchlist. However, we intend to have these discussions with our partners in India and with partners throughout the world “added Price.
India has frequently refuted criticism from multilateral organisations and human rights organisations regarding claims that the country’s civil liberties have deteriorated.
The Indian government has argued that its democratic traditions are well-established, and its institutions are strong enough to protect everyone’s rights.
Attacks on religious minorities were noted in the India portion of the US State Department’s 2021 Reports on International Religious Freedom.
In a statement made in June of this year, India disputed the criticism it received in a US State Dept report about religious freedom, lamenting the “vote bank politics” that are being used in international relations.
The observation about India in the study, according to Foreign Relations Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, is based on “motivated inputs and prejudiced perspectives.”
We have taken note of prominent US officials’ misinformed remarks as well as the publication of the United States State Department’s 2021 Assessment on Global Religious Freedom, according to Bagchi.
“It is regrettable that vote-bank politics are still used in world affairs. We recommend avoiding making decisions based on driven information and prejudicial viewpoints “He had spoken.
