09/21/2021 United States (International Christian Concern) – Prime Minister Modi of India will visit the United States from September 22-26 and has a very robust schedule of activities planned for his visit. He will meet with President Biden for a bilateral talk on the 24^th and will have a meeting with VP Harris in their first formal encounter.

The agenda for Modi and Biden will include bolstering trade and investment ties, strengthening defense and security collaboration, boosting clean energy partnerships, and other issues. Afghanistan and the new security challenges created by the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last month have become paramount concerns for the region and its long-term stability.

As the countries prepare for the meeting, it is of the outmost importance that the United States pressure India regarding their awful treatment of religious minorities and the general rapid decline of religious freedom in India’s domestic context. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in their annual report for the second time in a row that India be designated as a Country of Particular Concern by the Department of State, citing severe violations of religious freedom.

Reports from multiple sources over the last several years have cited rising hatred and violence against India’s religious minorities, including Christians, by Hindutva radicals—Hindu nationalists seeking to make India a Hindu-only country. Since Prime Minister Modi took power in 2014, cases of persecution against Christians have skyrocketed and continue to climb.

Prime Minister Modi served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in the early 2000s, during one of the deadliest episodes in the state’s history as public violence left scores of Muslim minorities and several Hindus dead. The Gujarat government was widely considered an accomplice to the riots. As a result, the United States banned Modi from traveling to the United States until he took power in 2014.

India is a country that constitutionally celebrates religious freedom in all levels, but in reality, Hindu-nationalists are working to undermine this core human right and criminalize conversions out of Hinduism to any other religion. Modi is deeply beholden to Hindu nationalism as a lifetime members of the RSS, a paramilitary outfit of the Hindutva movement known for their militancy and violence against India’s minorities.

“President Biden has an excellent opportunity to lead with our values and challenge Prime Minister Modi on the atrocious direction that India is heading on religious freedom,” said Matias Perttula, Director of Advocacy at International Christian Concern. “Modi has proven time and again that he will not stand up for religious minorities but will actively ignore or even empower the Hindu nationalist movement to reign with terror. This has to stop.”

For interview, please contact Addison Parker: [email protected].