No visas for US Commission on international religious freedom: India
S Jaishankar
In April, aUS Commission had questioned religious freedom in India. A string of strong verbal rebuttals followed. However, India has now given its stern response.
No visas will be issued to the teams of the United States Commission on international religious freedom.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced the decision in a letter to a member of parliament.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had raised objections made by the US Commission. The commission had advised the US government to designate India as a country of particular concern.
It was the first time since 2004 that the commission made such a recommendation. It said religious freedom in India had seen a drastic turn downward.
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The report cited the controversies around the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which led to Delhi riots in February. It even mentioned the scrapping of special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The commission said religious minorities are under assault in India. It ranked India along with Pakistan, North Korea, China and Saudi Arabia.
The External Affairs minister has once again hit out at the commission.
In the letter, he said, "We do not see the locus standi of a foreign entity like UNCIRF to pronounce on the state of Indian citizen's constitutionally protected rights."
Jaishankar assured the member of parliament that his ministry will not accept any such external interference or pronouncements.
Since the release of the report, India has maintained that the commission was driven by its prejudices and biases, and has no locus standi whatsoever.
But India has not responded to the comments made by top official in the Trump administration.
Samuel Brownback, the ambassador at large for international religious freedom said, "The US is concerned about what's happening in India in terms of religious freedom."
The comments came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released the international religious freedom report for 2019.