- The US Commission on International Religious Freedom urged India be labeled a Country of Particular Concern
- The report calls for sanctions on R&AW and RSS for alleged religious freedom violations
- India rejected the report as biased and based on questionable sources
The Centre on Monday responded strongly after a United States federal government commission recommended that India be designated a "Country of Particular Concern" for religious freedom violations and called for targeted sanctions on the external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In response to the report, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We have taken note of the latest report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). We categorically reject its motivated and biased characterisation of India. For several years now, USCIRF has persisted in presenting a distorted and selective picture of India, relying on questionable sources and ideological narratives rather than objective facts."
"Such repeated misrepresentations only undermine the credibility of the Commission itself. Instead of persisting with selective criticism of India, USCIRF would do well to reflect on the disturbing incidents of vandalism and attacks on Hindu temples in the United States, selective targeting of India, and growing intolerance and intimidation of members of the Indian diaspora in the United States, which merit serious attention," he added.
The USCIRF made the recommendations in its 2026 Annual Report, which assesses conditions during 2025. The report urges the US government to designate India as a CPC for allegedly "engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations".
It proposes targeted sanctions on individuals and entities, including R&AW and the RSS, "for their responsibility and tolerance of severe violations of religious freedom" through measures such as freezing assets and barring entry into the United States.
The commission also recommended linking future US security assistance and bilateral trade policies with India to improvements in religious freedom.
It called on the US Congress to reintroduce and pass the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024, which would require annual reporting on acts of transnational repression by the Indian government targeting religious minorities in the United States.
In its assessment of India, the report claimed that religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate in 2025 as the government introduced and enforced new legislation targeting religious minority communities and their houses of worship. Several states undertook efforts to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws, including harsher prison sentences, the report claimed.
