Jaishankar shares India’s CAA stand with US leaders
Issue doesn’t figure in 2+2; Pompeo says India allows debate on minority rights
NEWDELHI:Against the backdrop of widespread protests in India against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the US state department has said the rights of minorities and protecting religious freedom are a “core issue” for the Trump administration.
Though the CAA didn’t figure in the India-US 2+2 dialogue between the foreign and defence ministers on Wednesday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar shared New Delhi’s perspective on the law with members of the US Congress, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday.
During a special briefing after the 2+2 dialogue, a senior state department official said secretary of state Mike Pompeo had been clear that the US cares “deeply about the rights of minorities and the need to protect religious freedom”.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added: “It’s an integral part of our diplomacy. You see it in the reports we draft every year and the ministerial conference we held the last two years running on international religious freedom, so obviously this is a core issue for this administration and for this secretary.”
Pompeo had noted India is a vibrant democracy, the official said, adding, “There is a debate going on in India over this very legislation. It’s a legislation that will be reviewed by the courts. It’s being protested by political parties. It’s being debated in the media. All of these institutions exist in democratic India and we respect that process.”
At a news conference following the 2+2 dialogue also attended by Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh, Pompeo said the US honours India’s democracy as it ensures a debate on minorities’ and religious rights.
“We care deeply concerned about protecting minorities and religious rights everywhere,” Pompeo said in reply to a question on protests against the CAA.
Jaishankar, responding to the same question, said the CAA addresses the needs of persecuted religious minorities from certain countries.
“If you look at what those countries are and therefore, what their minorities are, perhaps you understand why certain religions were identified in terms of characterising those who had come across,” he said.
Kumar said he wasn’t aware of the specifics of the discussions during Jaishankar’s meeting with the US Senate foreign relations committee but India has shared its perspectives on the CAA with American interlocutors, including the Congress and the administration.
“In the context of his meeting with members of the Congress, (Jaishankar) shared our perspectives on this issue,” Kumar said, adding the CAA isn’t discriminatory and “an affirmative action”. The law is an internal matter and doesn’t seek to “strip citizenship from Indian citizens of any faith”.
Kumar rejected comments by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the protests against the CAA by saying, “They should look inward and not try to meddle in what is happening in a neighbouring country. They should start behaving like a normal neighbour.”
Under the CAA, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India before December 31, 2014 because of religious persecution will get Indian citizenship. Opponents of the law say it is unconstitutional and divisive as it excludes Muslims.
The state department official said the US will continue to express its concerns on the CAA. The US ambassador at large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback has commented on concerns about the religious criteria in the CAA, the official added. Brownback had hoped the Indian government will abide by its constitutional commitments, including on religious freedom.
Asked if Kashmir figured in the 2+2 dialogue, the official said the US side voiced its concerns about the roadmap for the region.
“You know that we have discussed our concern over what the roadmap is in Kashmir, to a return to economic and political normalcy, and what has concerned us in Kashmir are the prolonged detentions of political leaders and residents of the Valley, in addition to the restrictions,” the official said.