The United States will convey its concerns over the new Citizenship (Amendment) Act of India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host American President Donald Trump in Ahmedabad and New Delhi early next week.
With protests against the new citizenship law continuing across India, Trump is likely to nudge Modi to ensure equal treatment for all under the rule of law, a senior US official said.
Trump will arrive in Ahmedabad on Monday to commence his first state visit to India as the President of the United States. He and Modi will address a rally at a newly-built cricket stadium in Ahmedabad. The two leaders will hold formal talks in New Delhi on Tuesday. Trump will be accompanied by his wife Melania Trump.
Also read — PM Narendra Modi to convey to US President Donald Trump India's concerns over US-Taliban deal
A senior official of Trump Administration in Washington D.C. said that the United States was concerned over reports about the new law setting a legal criterion for citizenship based on religion. "The world looks to India to maintain religious liberty and equal treatment for all under the rule of law," the official said during a teleconference with journalists on US President’s visit to Ahmedabad and New Delhi. He recalled that PM Modi had in his first speech after being re-elected to the office of Prime Minister had talked about how he would "prioritise being inclusive of religious minorities of India".
The official said that Trump would talk about the tradition of democracy and religious freedom shared by the United States and India – "both in his public remarks and then certainly in private (conversation with Modi)". "He (US President) will raise these issues (with Prime Minister of India), particularly the religious freedom issue, which is extremely important to this administration."
Also read — Pakistan wants US President Donald Trump to talk about Kashmir in India, New Delhi hopes he doesn’t
"We do have this shared commitment to upholding our universal values, the rule of law. We have great respect for India's democratic traditions and institutions, and we will continue to encourage India to uphold those traditions," the official added as he responded to a question by a journalist if Trump would say anything to Modi about the attempts by his government in New Delhi to bar Muslim migrants from getting citizenship of India.
"And I think that the President will talk about these issues in his meetings with Prime Minister Modi and note that the world is looking to India to continue to uphold its democratic traditions, respect for religious minorities. Of course, it's in the Indian constitution -- religious freedom, respect for religious minorities, and equal treatment of all religions in India."
He said that religious freedom and equality of all under the law was important to Trump and he was sure that it would come up during US President’s discussion with Prime Minister of India.
Soon after the Modi government had got the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on December 10, the US Commission of International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had said that the proposed legislation had enshrined "a pathway to citizenship for immigrants" – specifically excluding Muslims and setting a legal criterion for citizenship based on religion. It had expressed apprehension that the government of India had been creating "a religious test" for citizenship that would "strip citizenship from millions of Muslims". The commission, an "independent, bipartisan federal government entity" established by the American Congress, had even called upon Trump administration to consider imposing sanctions on Home Minister Amit Shah and other leaders of India. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee too had expressed concern, stating that "any religious test for citizenship" would undermine the "most basic democratic tenet".