India has strongly criticised the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for its 2024 annual report which accused New Delhi of "engaging in or tolerating particularly severe violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief".
India is among 17 countries which have been criticised in the report by USCIRF, which claims to be an "independent federal agency" of the US government.
Reacting to the charges raised in the US report, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular briefing in New Delhi on Thursday the American agency's efforts to interfere in the ongoing Lok Sabha election won't succeed.
"The USCIRF is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India, masquerading as part of an annual report. We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even seek to understand India's diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos,” Jaiswal stated.
"Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise in the world will never succeed," the MEA spokesperson warned.
What Does the USCIRF Report Say?
The USCIRF report claims that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has "reinforced discriminatory nationalistic policies" and failed to address communal violence against minorities and marginalised groups.
The 2024 report once again calls upon the Biden administration to designate India as a 'Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for "engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.
It further urges the US government to impose "targeted sanctions" on entities and individuals alleged to be involved in religious discrimination as well as make defence deals and financial aid "conditional" to an adherence to religious freedom.
Year after year, India has consistently rejected the charges in the USCIRF report.