{"id":580123,"date":"2023-06-25T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/modi-visit-fuels-concerns-biden-putting-human-rights-on-back-burner\/"},"modified":"2023-06-25T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T11:00:00","slug":"modi-visit-fuels-concerns-biden-putting-human-rights-on-back-burner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/modi-visit-fuels-concerns-biden-putting-human-rights-on-back-burner\/","title":{"rendered":"#Modi visit fuels concerns Biden putting human rights on back burner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/AP23174597236711-e1687546743767.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s state visit is fueling concerns from activist groups that the Biden administration is putting human rights on the back burner.<\/p>\n<p>During the visit, President Biden held back from public criticism of Modi\u2019s handling of human rights and democratic values \u2014 issues that led a handful of progressive lawmakers to boycott his speech to a joint address to Congress. <\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The president, instead, rolled out the red carpet for Modi with a celebratory welcome and hug, a 21-gun salute and a state dinner with notable White House guests, a charm offensive underscoring India\u2019s economic and foreign policy importance to the United States. <\/p>\n<p>Biden had previously come under criticism last July for a fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to Jeddah that advocates argue effectively ignored the Saudi government\u2019s human rights abuses.  <\/p>\n<p>White House officials contend that tough conversations with allies behind closed doors \u2014 including Modi \u2014 are more productive than grandstanding and scolding in public.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe prime minister and I had a good discussion about democratic values. \u2026 We\u2019re straightforward with each other, and \u2014 and we respect each other,\u201d Biden said during a press conference alongside Modi at the White House on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But critics say that puts little pressure on governments and leaders like Modi to actually deliver on reforms.<\/p>\n<p>The Indian leader in particular is criticized for failing to counter anti-Muslim hate and is cracking down on civil liberties and press freedoms \u2014 issues that strike at the core of respect for democratic governments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI would argue that the administration needs to be more explicit about backsliding allies, practically recommitting themselves to fundamental freedoms and the respect for human rights as the basis for an evolving global order,\u201d said Tess McEnery, who previously served as Biden\u2019s director for democracy and human rights at the National Security Council. <\/p>\n<p>During his campaign, Biden put human rights at the center of his foreign policy messaging and identified strengthening democracy \u2014 at home and abroad \u2014 as key to pushing back against autocratic governments such as Russia and China. <\/p>\n<p>Yet in pushing back on Russia and China, the U.S. also needs allies. And that has complicated efforts with human rights. <\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The White House sees India as an indispensable partner in its strategy with China; its population of 1.4 billion people is the only market that can compete with Beijing\u2019s. <\/p>\n<p>India represents a needed partner in the administration\u2019s efforts to diversify supply chains away from China for critical materials such as semiconductors and rare earth minerals that are the building blocks of those technologies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Modi recognized the power that India holds during his address to Congress on Thursday.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWhen defense and aerospace in India grow, industries in the states of Washington, Arizona, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania thrive. \u2026 When Indians fly more, a single order for aircrafts creates more than a million jobs in 44 states in America,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen an American phone maker invests in India, it creates an entire ecosystem of jobs and opportunities in both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most robust <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lause from Congress came when Modi said the U.S. was one of India\u2019s \u201cmost important defense partners\u201d \u2014 an important statement given American efforts to turn New Delhi away from its reliance on on Russia\u2019s defense industry and have it serve a bulwark against China\u2019s growing military. <\/p>\n<p>Being hospitable to Modi also has its domestic political benefits. <\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The U.S. is home to a more than an Indian-American community of more than 4.5 million people \u2014 a key voting bloc that the president hopes to hold onto ahead of what is likely to be a fraught 2024 presidential election.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that President Biden is eager not to cede any of the, kind of, Indian-American community vote to the Republican Party,\u201d said Daniel Markey, senior adviser on South Asia at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).<\/p>\n<p>Republicans and Democrats in Congress are largely united in supporting a robust U.S. and Indian partnership. A bipartisan and bicameral grouping introduced legislation Thursday to fast-track weapons sales to India in recognition of Modi\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>And while more than 70 House and Senate lawmakers raised concerns over Modi\u2019s human rights record in a letter to Biden ahead of the visit, only a little more than a handful of progressive Democratic lawmakers boycotted the prime minister\u2019s speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are told that we must now turn a blind eye to the repression because of foreign policy concerns, even though human rights are supposed to be at the center of our foreign policy,\u201d Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IAMCouncil\/status\/1672018375856332801?s=20\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IAMCouncil\/status\/1672018375856332801?s=20\">said during a policy briefing<\/a> she hosted with human rights advocates after Modi\u2019s address, which she boycotted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Among the most pressing criticisms against Modi\u2019s rule is the criminal conviction against Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who was sentenced to two years in prison for negatively using Modi\u2019s surname during a political rally in 2019.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Advocates have also warned about freedom of speech and press freedoms in India in the wake of a tax raid on the offices of the BBC in India in March, and cases of journalists being jailed. <\/p>\n<p>Freedom House, a nongovernmental organization that tracks democratic freedoms globally, rated India as \u201cpartly free\u201d in its Freedom in the World report for 2023. The group claimed Modi\u2019s government and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party \u201chas presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution affecting the Muslim population.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe constitution guarantees civil liberties including freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but harassment of journalists, nongovernmental organizations, and other government critics has increased significantly under Modi,\u201d the group wrote.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, argued that a balance can be met between calling out human rights concerns while also supporting the U.S.-Indian relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s because we value our friendship with the Indian people that we also have to speak the truth about human rights abuses in India that are ongoing, well-documented by credible observers and deeply troubling,\u201d he said at the policy briefing hosted by Omar.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t raise these issues to discredit India,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IAMCouncil\/status\/1672019494397440000?s=20\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IAMCouncil\/status\/1672019494397440000?s=20\">he continued<\/a>. \u201cWe raise them because we know from our own experience that if human rights problems are not confronted and resolved, they will fester and deepen and undermine a country\u2019s promise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Markey, of the USIP, said the Biden administration prepared for blowback over the decision to keep criticisms against Modi in private, but added that its excessive references to sharing appreciation for democratic governance did itself no favors. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they went even farther than maybe they needed to do, for Indian consumption,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey leaned into the shared-democracy issue, rather than pulling back from it,\u201d Markey added. \u201cThey gave a lot of ammunition to those who would suggest that this is just pure hypocrisy at this point, rather than kind of edging around it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McEnery, who is now the executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy,<em>\u00a0<\/em>said the Biden administration needs to elevate defending democracy and human rights to an \u201cinterest\u201d more than a value.<\/p>\n<p>That would mean doing trade and economic deals centered on good governance principles, she said, or reforming arms and security relationships based on human rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw this firsthand a lot, where many good, hard-working people inside every arm of the U.S. government, including the National Security Council, tried to make the case for democracy and human rights as a vital national security interest,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I would see that shot down time and again by others throughout the government.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. 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During the visit, President Biden held back from public criticism of Modi\u2019s handling of human rights and democratic values \u2014 issues that led a handful of progressive lawmakers to boycott&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":580124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/AP23174597236711-e1687546743767.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134344,135369,134343,73014,73823,991,40445,144064,96558,134345,144140],"class_list":["post-580123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-administration","tag-biden-administration","tag-campaign","tag-health-care","tag-human-rights","tag-joe-biden","tag-media","tag-modi-state-visit","tag-narendra-modi","tag-state-watch","tag-u-s-india"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}