WHAT THE US THINKS OF INDIA

2014: The US International Religious Freedom (USIRF) report, backed by the State Department cited a long list of notable incidents where religious rights in India were curbed. The IRF report said that although the Indian government “generally respected” religious freedom, some laws and policies restricted this freedom and officials invoked several sections of the Indian Penal Code that resulted in minorities’ freedom of speech being curtailed on Internet sites.

2015: The India section in the State Department’s report to Congress said: "The most significant human rights problems were police and security force abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and rape; widespread corruption that contributed to ineffective responses to crime, including those against women and members of scheduled castes or tribes; and societal violence based on gender,

religious affiliation, and caste or tribe,"

2017: A US State Department report panned the Indian government over alleged human rights violations, citing the police case against activist Teesta Setalvad and encounter killing of eight suspected SIMI activists in Madhya Pradesh.

2018: The US State Department's human rights report for 2017 criticised India for violations by police and security forces while at the same time noting the “serious abuses” by separatist insurgents and terrorists. “The most significant human rights problems were police and security force abuses, including extra-judicial killings, torture, and rape; widespread corruption that contributed to ineffective responses to crime, including those against women and members of scheduled castes or tribes; and societal violence based on gender, religious affiliation, and caste or tribe," the report said about India.