Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/12/5/the-biden-administration-is-enabling-indias-human-rights-abuses
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken named 10 countries on the US government’s official list of the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom. A notable omission was India. This is not something out of the ordinary however, with Mike Pompeo last year refusing to include India on that list, despite the USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom) recommendation on India being a top 10 offender. Even though India is a significant ally, it is odd that they are not on this list, as being an ally has not kept the Saudi’s off the list for their gross rights abuses. What makes it even more odd is that Blinken’s refusal to designate India contradicts and is inconsistent with his own position on India, which is that there is gross persecution of religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians. “Modi is expected to join the administration’s “Summit for Democracy” on December 9-10, where he will no doubt falsify his record of persecuting religious minorities, human rights defenders, critics, lawyers, journalists, students and politicians.” America is contradicting their own identity by not pointing out these abuses.
I do not have the statistics to back up what is being stated in the article but if it is true I find it incredibly sad that we, as a supposed bastion of democracy and freedom and everything good, are not pointing out something so damning by one of our biggest allies. On the other hand, I understand that we want to keep the most amicable relationship with India as possible as they are a rising superpower. I feel that maybe someone should at least point it out within the current administration. It would not be right of us to let something like this slide just because they are our allies.
This relates to what we are learning about in class as it is in the United States national interest to keep India as much on our side as possible, as they will be a big power in the geopolitical sphere soon, if not already. They are also positioned in an area of the world that we need allies in to keep checks on China.