Human Rights is one of the key components of US’s engagement with India, a senior State Department official said.
“The US and India regularly consult at the highest levels on democracy and human rights issues. We strongly encourage, urge India to uphold its human rights obligations and commitments,” said Robert Gilchrist, the Senior Bureau Official in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
Gilchrist said this at a news conference after the release of the 48th Annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices by Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
“We also regularly meet with civil society representatives, both in the U.S. and India, to hear their perspectives, and those sorts of perspectives inform the Human Rights Report. And we encourage the Government of India to consult and meet regularly with civil society organizations representing a diversity of people.,” Gilchrist said
“So there are a number of steps. It remains a key component of our – not just our dialogue but in terms of our engagement with India,” he said in response to a question.
The India section of the report says that the outbreak of ethnic conflict between the Kuki and Meitei ethnic groups during the year in India’s northeastern state of Manipur resulted in significant human rights abuses. Media reported at least 175 persons were killed and more than 60,000 displaced between May 3 and November 15, it said.
“The government took minimal credible steps or action to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses. Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern states, and Maoist terrorism-affected areas committed serious abuses, including killings and abductions of armed forces personnel, police, government officials, and civilians,” said the State Department.
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