Afghan turmoil, human rights set to top Blinken's agenda in India

The two-day India trip of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken – his first after the Biden administration took over in January this year – beginning July 27 comes four months after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited New Delhi in March.

The two sides have kept top-level contacts on a host of issues, the most significant was on the vaccine issue where the Indian side strongly urged Washington to waive intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing.

Blinken’s visit comes in the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan from where the US troop drawdown is almost complete. Days before his visit, the US let it known that it has conducted airstrikes on Taliban positions and that it has not “abandoned” the country where US troops were stationed close to two decades since 9/11.

Also read: As Delta looms large, Quad may advance vaccine rollout to 2021-end

Days before Blinken’s visit, Dean Thompson, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, told the media on Friday (July 23) that Blinken will raise issues of human rights and democracy with Indian officials during the visit. “With respect to the human rights and democracy question, yes, you’re right; I will tell you that we will raise it, and we will continue that conversation because we firmly believe that we have more values in common on those fronts than we don’t,” Thompson had said.

The Indian side was swift to react. “India is proud of its achievements in upholding democratic values and human rights and it is open to engaging with those who recognize diversity”, official sources said on Sunday (July 25). Human rights and democracy are universal and extend beyond a particular national or cultural perspective, PTI quoted official sources as saying.

“As a long-standing pluralistic society, India is open to engaging those who now recognize the value of diversity,” said the Indian side. India supports a truly multipolar, democratic, and diverse world order and expects international conversations to reflect this evolution.”

“We believe in equity and fairness, whether in development, climate change, or global decision-making,” said an official source.

Also read: Endgame in Afghanistan rattles everyone in the region and beyond

Discussions are also likely to cover working together in the UN, especially with India holding the presidency of the UN Security Council in August.

Three significant developments on the rights issue took place in India in recent days. One was the death of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy in the midst of a court hearing on his bail plea on medical grounds. The second is the Pegasus snooping scandal, where the privacy of more than 300 individuals – politicians, journalists and constitutional authorities –was reportedly compromised. The third is the protracted battle involving social media platforms, including Twitter, over privacy laws contained in the new IT rules.

The unfolding Afghan situation where Taliban are locked in a grim battle with Afghan forces to gain control of Kabul appears to be of most immediate concern for the two sides.