India’s human rights record unlikely to come up when Joe Biden hosts Narendra Modi: experts

Mutual interest in a successful large-scale state visit means real reluctance for leaders to delve into difficult topics, say observers

Yet as US touts growing bilateral closeness, India expected to maintain cooperation with China for strategic autonomy

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US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet in Washington on June 22. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:20am, 14 Jun 2023

India’s chequered track record with Muslim minorities, political opposition and independent journalism under Narendra Modi is unlikely to feature on the agenda when US President Joe Biden hosts the Indian leader during a state visit to Washington next week, according to observers of US-India relations.

“By definition, a large-scale official visit like this is going to be a success. It has to be a success for both sides, and that means that there is a real reluctance to introduce difficult topics in this context,” said Donald Camp of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

“You want bonhomie, you want grand success to come out of this because the two heads of government are depending on that,” said Camp of the high-level meeting. “My guess is that human rights will not be much of a focus of the conversation.”

The White House has drawn criticism from human rights organisations in the US on “what is happening in India under the Modi government”, he added.

Protesting farmers in the state of Punjab burn an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they demand government support for the price of sunflower seeds on June 8. Photo: AFP

Biden, who has described America’s great-power rivalry with China as an ideological battle between like-minded democracies versus autocracies, will receive Modi during the prime minister’s three-day US visit.

Biden and Modi will meet on June 22, and the Indian leader is due to address a joint session of Congress. The day will culminate in a state dinner at the White House.

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