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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has faced
allegations it has suppressed dissent, pursued divisive policies
to appeal to its Hindu nationalist base and alienated Muslims,
the country's biggest minority.
Ahead of Blinken's first trip as Secretary of State, the State
Department said he will discuss India's human rights record as
well as a religion-based citizenship law that the Modi
government enacted two years ago that Muslims see as
discriminatory.
Indian foreign ministry sources said that issues such as human
rights and democracy were universal and extended beyond a
particular country or culture.
One source said India was a long-standing pluralistic society
and was open to engaging with "those who now recognise the value
of diversity".
The sources could not be identified under government policy.
India and the United States are building close political and
security ties to push back against China's growing assertiveness
in the region and both sides have said Blinken's trip is aimed
at further boosting cooperation.
But rights activists say there is a growing climate of
intolerance in India and that the United States must lean on the
Modi government to uphold diversity and democratic values,
especially if the two countries are drawing closer together to
confront an authoritarian China.
Dean Thompson, the State Department's acting assistant secretary
for South and Central Asian affairs, told reporters that the
United States will continue to have conversations with the
Indian side on human rights because these were common values for
both countries.
(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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