Some Indian govt actions raised concerns that are inconsistent with its democratic values: US official

India remains the worldrsquos largest democracy with a strong rule of law but some of the Indian governmentrsquos actions including restrictions on freedom of expression have raised concerns that are inconsistent with the countryrsquos democratic values a top US official has told lawmakersActing Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Dean Thompsonrsquos remarks came during a Congressional hearing on Democracy in the IndoPacific on Wednesday at the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia the Pacific Central Asia and NonproliferationldquoIndia remains the worldrsquos largest democracy with a strong rule of law and independent judiciary and enjoys a strong and growing strategic partnership with the United Statesrdquo Thompson saidldquoHowever some of the Indian governmentrsquos actions have raised concerns that are inconsistent with Indiarsquos democratic valuesrdquo he saidldquoThis includes increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and the detention of human rights activists and journalistsrdquo he saidThompson said the US regularly engages in and on these issues including the important work of civil societyIndia has previously rejected criticism by foreign governments and human rights groups on allegations that civil liberties have eroded in the countryThe government has asserted that India has well established democratic practices and robust institutions to safeguard the rights of allThe government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of human rightsResponding to a question from lawmakers Thompson said the US has been concerned in Pakistan and Bangladesh about some of the restrictions on journalists that have been thereldquoSimilarly at times that has happened in India though I think India we can say has a very vibrant press overall that reports very freely on its governmentrdquo he saidCongresswoman Chrissy Houlahan who represents a Congressional district from Pennsylvania raised the issue of Kashmir during the Congressional hearingldquoAlthough of course theyrsquore two great democracies democracies including ours and Indiarsquos are not without their flaws and problems I do have a pretty big number of Kashmiris in my community and there is of course concern about the treatment of the Kashmir peoplerdquo she saidldquoWhat is the dialogue that is ongoing between the administration and the Indian government on these human rights issues broadly if you could share a little bit thererdquo she askedThompson said that the Biden administration routinely raises issues related to a vast array of rights and democratic issues with IndialdquoKashmir is one area where we have urged them to return to normalcy as quickly as possible including wersquove seen some steps taken The release of prisoners the restoration of 4G access things of that nature There are other electoral steps wersquod like to see them take and that we have encouraged them to do and will continue to do sordquo Thompson saidCongressman Steve Chabot said that by many accounts the US and India as the worldrsquos two largest democracies are uniquely poised to join forces in promoting democratic values in the IndoPacific and beyondldquoAnd Irsquom assuming that this administration would agree with that If so what initiatives does this administration intend to pursue to take advantage of that unique relationship between the US and India as the two largest democraciesrdquo he askedldquoWe are right now through our global comprehensive strategic partnership with India looking at areas where we can work together to strengthen across the region the effects of the ability of countries to push back on malign influence and through the Quad initiative where we brought in Japan and Australia as wellrdquo Thompson repliedInitiated in 2007 the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad is an informal grouping of the US India Australia and JapanThe Quad member countries have resolved to uphold a rulesbased international order in the IndoPacific amid growing Chinese assertiveness in the regionThe US has a tremendous opportunity to work together with four likeminded countries all democracies that are looking at ways we can help deliver tremendous relief in the wake of COVID19 Thompson saidldquoThey can look at how we set standards and work together on critical technologies and diversifying supply chains And finally can fight climate change and work on improving the environmental situation across the regionrdquo he saidCongresswoman Houlahan said the United States and India the worldrsquos two largest democracies are uniquely placed to join forces in promoting a democratic system and democratic values in the IndoPacific region specifically and probably beyondThe United States Thompson said has a global comprehensive strategic partnership with IndiaThe US is looking at ways to both strengthen Indiarsquos ability to be a positive player and influencer throughout the region including the QuadldquoThe Quad relationship is extremely important because of the ASEAN centrality and the vast regional reach that it has for us to be able to bring these kinds of democratic ideals across the boardrdquo he saidldquoOur ability to leverage each otherrsquos assistance programmes and complement one another where relationships may be stronger between us in a country versus India in a country or vice versa therersquos a great leveraging opportunity thererdquo said the State Department officialldquoAs is the case around the world the Chinese government uses a combination of economic levers and soft power to pressure South Asian countries to align with its interests and smaller countries are especially vulnerable to this pressurerdquo Thomson saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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