Raised human rights concerns with India in past, will do so in future: US spokesperson

The United States has raised the issue of human rights with India in the past regularly and will do so in the future, a senior US official has said ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to New Delhi next month to attend the G20 Summit.

“We regularly raise human rights concerns with countries with which we engage, have done that in the past with India, and we’ll do so in the future,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday (August 7).

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Miller was responding to a question if President Biden, during his upcoming trip to New Delhi in September, would be asking India about the alleged Christian persecution in the country.

“We have made very clear that we oppose the persecution of Christians and we oppose the persecution of any religious group, no matter where it takes place in the world,” Miller said.

India in the past has trashed such allegations as based on “misinformation and flawed understanding”.

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“Motivated and biased commentary by some US officials only serves to undermine further the credibility of these reports,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said in May while commenting on a report by the US State Department on religious freedom that criticised India for alleged attacks on minorities.

“We value our partnership with the US and will continue to have frank exchanges on issues of concern to us,” Bagchi had said while responding to media queries on the report.

(With agency inputs)