‘Deeply biased, lacks an understanding of India's social fabric’: MEA rejects US report on religious freedom in India

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal.

Terming the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2023 as "deeply biased", Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said on Friday that it does not understand India's social fabric.

"We have noted the release by the US State Department of its report on international religious Freedom for 2023. As in the past, the report is deeply biased, lacks an understanding of India's social fabric, and is visibly driven by vote bank considerations and a prescriptive outlook. We therefore reject it.,” he said.

Earlier this week, the US State Department's 2023 religious freedom report on India, noted violent attacks on minority groups, especially Muslims and Christians, including killings, assaults and vandalism of houses of worship.

The report on international religious freedom released on Wednesday said that in 2023, senior U.S. officials continued to "raise concerns about religious freedom issues" with their Indian counterparts.