India slammed the 2023 International Religious Freedom report by the US State Department, terming it "deeply biased". The inertia, according to India, was supplanted with domestic political considerations. Addressing a briefing at the Ministry of External Affairs, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal once again refused the report, saying it missed understanding India's social context and merely picked up half-baked facts to suit a pre-ordained narrative.
Mr. Jaiswal said the report was replete with factual inaccuracies, but also proceeded to make sweeping generalizations from single incidents, including the current violence in Manipur, to tarnish India's image. He said that the report questions Indian laws generally and judicial verdicts pertaining to Pandora Papers-related regulation of financial inflows and compliance measures.
“We emphasise that human rights and respect for diversity are legitimate subjects of discussion between India and the United States.
However, such dialogues should not become a licence for foreign interference in other polities,” Jaiswal said. He mentioned that on one side, India is carrying on with such dialogues, but it does not accept external prescriptions eroding its sovereignty.
He referred to the official engagements by India in 2023 over hate crimes and attacks on Indian nationals and minorities in the US, and underlined the need to respect mutual sovereignty and non-interference in bilateral ties.
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