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Last updated: May 03, 2023, 00:34 IST
Middle East Airlines spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. (Image / ANI file)
Bagge said India would urge the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to desist from such efforts and develop a better understanding of India
The Department of Foreign Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday dismissed the “biased and inflammatory” comments by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on India and urged the commission to develop a better understanding of India.
“USCIRF continues to respond to biased and inflammatory comments about India, this time in its 2023 Annual Report,” MEA spokeswoman Arindam Bagchi said in response to media inquiries regarding comments on India in the USCIRF Committee’s annual report.
The response came after a US federal commission urged the Biden administration to impose targeted sanctions on Indian government agencies and officials responsible for “gross abuses” of religious freedom in the country by freezing their assets.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom also recommended that the US Congress raise the issue of religious freedom during bilateral meetings between the US and India and hold hearings on it.
In its annual report on religious freedom, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) asked the US State Department to designate India as a “Country of Special Concern” regarding its religious freedom status along with many others.
Baghi said India rejects such misrepresentation of facts, which only serves to discredit USCIRF itself, and urged the commission to desist from such efforts.
“We urge the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to desist from such efforts and develop a better understanding of India, its pluralism, its democratic spirit and its constitutional mechanisms,” the spokesperson said.
USCIRF has been making similar recommendations to the State Department since 2020, which have not been accepted.
USCIRF’s recommendations are not mandatory for the State Department.
India has repeatedly criticized the US Commission on International Religious Freedom for “misrepresenting” the facts. India also called it an “Organization of Particular Importance”.
(with PTI input)
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