India criticised the US Commission for International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) report, which claimed that religious freedom in India is in danger, claiming that the Congress-appointed organisation was pursuing a motivated and biased agenda.
The MEA described the observations made in the report as biased and inaccurate observations about India by USCIRF. Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that “They (USCIRF) have a tendency to consistently misrepresent facts and this shows their lack of understanding of India, our constitutional framework, plurality and our robust democratic system.”
He added “given its past record, we are not surprised to see that USCIRF continues to be guided by its prejudices and pursues a motivated agenda that calls into question its own credibility.”
In its 2022 annual report earlier this year, the USCIRF had recommended that the US department of state designate India as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as set forth by the International Religious Freedom Act.
The US state department has refused to incorporate the commission’s recommendations so far. It is not mandatory for the state department to implement USCIRF's recommendations.
