Over 70 US Lawmakers Ask Biden to raise Human Rights Issues during Meeting with Modi

US Representative Pramila Jayapal and Senator Chris Van Hollen along with over 70 of their colleagues have written a letter to US President Joe Biden urging him to discuss the need to protect human rights and democratic values in India during his meeting with PM Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Jayapal and Hollen are Democrats. “As long-time supporters of a strong US-India relationship, we also believe that friends can and should discuss their differences in an honest and forthright way. That is why we respectfully request that—in addition to the many areas of shared interests between India and the US—you also raise directly with PM Modi areas of concern,” they said while citing “a series of independent, credible reports” that reflect troubling signs in India towards the shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organisations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access.

The US Senate has 100 members and the US House of Representatives is of 435 members. So, around 12 per cent of members of both Houses of US Congress are behind this letter.