NEW DELHI, Apr 2: The external affairs ministry has taken a dim view of the United States state department’s report raising a number of human rights issues in India.
Calling out the US state department’s report on human rights, the ministry of external affairs on Friday said there must be a “proper understanding” of the development in India. The ministry refused to side with it.
“This is clearly an internal exercise of the US government. We are not a party to it. There should be a proper understanding of developments in India,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Bagchi’s reference was to a report released recently by the US secretary of state Antony Blinken that had a long list of significant human rights issues in India. It referred to “unlawful and arbitrary killings” by police; torture by some police and prison officials; “arbitrary” arrests and detentions; “harsh and life-threatening” prison conditions; political prisoners or detainees in certain states.
The US report also mentions “restrictions on freedom of expression and the press, including violence, threats of violence, or unjustified arrests or prosecutions against journalists, use of criminal libel laws to prosecute social media speech, censorship, and site blocking.”
The spokesman, however, said the report had not impacted India’s decision to join the climate summit called by US president Joe Biden. He said, “Biden invited prime minister Narendra Modi to attend the climate summit to be held virtually on 22-23 April. Modi welcomed his initiative and accepted the invitation,” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)