New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought refuge behind India’s democratic constitution and ‘DNA’ to dismiss the charge that his government discriminated against religious minorities and suppressed dissent, asserting that there is “no democracy without human rights” and that the “benefits” the government provides are available to all regardless of religion, caste, gender or region.
With US President Joe Biden by his side, Modi spoke to reporters at the White House in a brief joint press conference – the first he has consented to be part of in eight years. [Video link]
Modi is on his sixth visit to the United States, but his first one with full diplomatic protocol of a state visit.
Modi and Biden addressed the media after their delegation level talks and then took questions from two reporters, one from the US and one from India, in a format the Indian side eventually agreed to after initially resisting the idea of Modi fielding any questions at all. According to the Associated Press, Indian officials relented only the day before when the US side insisted that taking questions from the media was a standard part of White House state visits.
These were the first questions that Modi has answered in an open press conference since November 2015 in London.
Just like eight years ago, Modi had to again answer a question over his government’s treatment of Muslims.
“India has long prided itself as the world’s largest democracy, but there are many human rights groups who say that your government has discriminated against religious minorities and sought to silence its critics,” a reporter from the Wall Street Journal told Modi, adding, “What steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and to uphold free speech?”
‘No space for discrimination’
Stating that he was “surprised” by the query, Modi said, “As President Biden also mentioned, India and America both have democracy in our DNA. Democracy is in our spirit and we live it and it’s written in our Constitution… Our government has taken the basic principles of democracy. And on that basis, our constitution is made and the entire country runs on that — our constitution and government.”
India was a democracy so there could be no discrimination or violation of human rights, he said, as that would mean India was not a democracy.
“We have always proved that democracy can deliver. And when I say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, gender. There’s absolutely no space for discrimination. And when you talk of democracy, if there are no human values and there is no humanity, there are no human rights, then it’s not a democracy.”
However, Modi didn’t specifically refer to the well-documented instances of violence and threats against minorities, or the issue of declining press freedom in India – as exemplified by the arrest of journalists in Kashmir and elsewhere, the changes in law affecting the freedom of digital news media or the curiously timed income tax raid on the BBC offices in Delhi after the British public broadcaster recently aired a documentary on his role during the 2002 riots.
Biden sidesteps question on Modi’s rights record
In reply to a similar question about human rights in India, Biden said that he “had a good discussion” with Prime Minister Modi about “democratic values”.
In the context of his statement calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator, Biden was asked, “As you raise these broader issues of human rights and democracy, what is your message to those, including some members of your own party, who say that your administration is overlooking the targeting of religious minorities and crackdown on dissent in Prime Minister Modi’s country?”
“One of the fundamental reasons that I believe the U.S.-China relationship is not in the space it is with the U.S.- Indian relationship, Biden replied, “is that there’s an overwhelming respect for each other because we’re both democracies. And it’s a common democratic candida- — character of both our countries that — and our people — our diversity; our culture; our open, tolerant, robust debate.
“And I believe that we believe in the dignity of every citizen. And it is in America’s DNA and, I believe, in India’s DNA that the whole world — the whole world has a stake in our success, both of us, in maintaining our democracies. It makes us appealing partners and enables us to expand democratic institutions across — around the world. And I believe this, and I still believe this.”
In a gentle nod to concerns that have been aired by Democratic legislators as well as the US media, Biden in his opening remarks stated that both Indians and Americans “celebrate the democratic values of universal human rights which face challenges around the world and in each of our countries but which remain so vital to the success of each of our nations: press freedoms, religion freedom, tolerance, diversity.”
Joint statement talks of democracy
The India-US joint statement issued on Thursday also referred to their “shared” heritage as democracies at least half a dozen times. The bilateral relations were described as a “partnership of democracies” that will fulfil aspirations of its people “grounded in respect for human rights, and shared principles of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law”.
“The United States and India reaffirm and embrace their shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens. Both countries have a tradition of recognizing the diversity represented in their nations and celebrating the contributions of all their citizens. They reasserted that democracy, freedom, and rule of law are the shared values that anchor global peace and sustainable development”.
Two days earlier, 75 Democrat lawmakers had written to the White House that there were “troubling signs in India toward 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 Senators and Congress representatives had asked Biden to directly raise “areas of concern” with his visiting guest. At least four Democrat lawmakers had said in advance that they will boycott Modi’s speech to the joint chambers of Congress.
In an interview to CNN, former president Barack Obama had also affirmed that “concerns about Indian democracy must also enter into diplomatic conversations”. He even claimed that if the rights of ethnic minorities in India are not protected, “then there is a strong possibility India at some point starts pulling apart”.
Obama’s words mirrored his speech as US president in New Delhi eight years ago in January 2015, when he said that India will succeed as long as it wasn’t splintered on sectarian lines.
A day earlier, a senior Biden administration official said that both sides spoke “honestly and constructively” about “our areas of difference”. “We have had at every level, including the highest levels, discussions about human rights. Those are frank and constructive discussions”.
“They (India) have raised concerns about human rights and religiously motivated hate crimes here in the United States. We have also raised our human rights and religious freedom concerns regularly with senior government officials (in India). We do this in an atmosphere of mutual respect,” the official said, as quoted by PTI.
At the joint press conference, the Wall Street Journal reporter also asked Biden a question about his remarks calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator, while the Indian reporter preferred to pose a query on climate change.
Quad, Ukraine figure in joint statement
With China looming on the horizon, the two countries reiterated their “concern over coercive actions and rising tensions, and strongly oppose destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force” in the Indo-Pacific.
The Quad grouping that links India, the US, Japan and Australia figured in the very first para of the joint statement, a reflection of the salience of China to the US-India partnership:
“Our cooperation will serve the global good as we work through a range of multilateral and regional groupings – particularly the Quad– to contribute toward a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific.”
There was another reference to the China factor later too:
“Both sides emphasized the importance of adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the maintenance of freedom of navigation and overflight, in addressing challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the East and South China Seas”.
While there was a single mention of Ukraine in the press conference by Biden when he spoke of “Russia’s brutal war”, the joint statement had a paragraph expressing “deep concern” at the ongoing conflict, but without naming Russia. India, along with Brazil and China, have refused to join western sanctions against Russian oil and have largely not criticised Moscow for attacking Ukraine.
“They called for respect for international law, principles of the UN charter, and territorial integrity and sovereignty. Both countries concurred on the importance of post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine,” said the bilateral document.
The joint statement also noted that President Biden had “invited India to attend the APEC Summit in San Francisco in November 2023 as a guest of the host.”
There was strong language on combating terrorism, with the joint statement condemning “cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks”. While calling for justice for perpetrators of the 26/11 and Pathankot air base attacks, the two leaders also “noted with concern the increasing global use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones and information and communication technologies for terrorist purposes”.
Focus on defence and emerging technology collaboration
In their opening remarks and the joint statement, the two leaders touted their big-ticket announcement of an MoU for production of General Electric’s jet engines for India’s indigenous fighter jets, the sale of armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones and the decision for Micron Technology to build a $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility.
India also agreed to sign the Artemis accords to join NASA’s lunar exploration program. Further, the two space agencies will develop a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by end of this year. They also agreed to make a joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024.
Modi arrived in Washington on Wednesday afternoon after a yoga session in the United Nations in New York. After a private dinner with the Bidens in the night, Modi was back again in the White house for a formal welcome ceremony on the South Lawn.
Thousands of Indian Americans had waited for hours for the start of the military pomp, which included marching bands, honour guards and a 21-gun salute.
Address to Congress
In his address to Congress, Modi, speaking in English with a teleprompter, repeated many of the elements of the joint statement including on ‘coercion in the Indo-Pacific’.
He said, controversially, that India had won its freedom after “1000 years of foreign rule”, and also recited a few lines from a poem he said he had written.
Indians or Indian Americans in the visitors gallery during the prime minister’s address to the US Congress punctuated his speech with chants of ‘Modi Modi’ and shouted ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ at the end.
Modi’s address was met with frequent applause from the assembled US legislators, especially when he spoke of the importance of the bilateral relationship, the importance of Indian Americans and reeled off statistics to make the case that he was transforming India.
On Thursday night, the president will host Modi at an official banquet on the White House lawns.