Ahead of Trump's visit, US echoes India to condemn atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan

President Ram Nath Kovind on January 31 called upon the world community to take note of and stop persecution of minority communities in Pakistan

The United States has lent its voice to India's tirade on persecution of Hindus in Pakistan – just weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to host American President Donald Trump.

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, condemned persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. “We condemn terrorists and violent extremists who target religious minorities whether they are Yazidis in Iraq, Hindus in Pakistan, Christians in north-east Nigeria, or Muslims in Burma (Myanmar),” said Pompeo, while launching the International Religious Freedom Alliance in Washington D.C. late on Wednesday.

He billed the International Religious Freedom Alliance launched by the US as a coalition of “like-minded partners who treasure, and fight for, international religious freedom for every human being.”

Neither India, nor Pakistan has so far joined the 27-nation bloc led by the US.

New Delhi has of late raised its pitch of atrocities on minority religious communities in Pakistan – ostensibly to justify the changes Modi Government made to the citizenship law of India.

The new Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which was enacted in December 2019, not only triggered widespread protest across the country, but also drew flak from several international organizations as well as lawmakers in the United States and other countries in the west. The new law makes it easier for migrants of six non-Muslim religious communities – Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Parsi, Jain and Christian – from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to get citizenship of India, if they have migrated on or before December 31, 2014.

Islamabad's acting envoy to New Delhi, Syed Haider Shah, was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs on January 6, when top diplomats lodged strong protest at the recent acts of vandalism and desecration of Nankana Sahib shrine and the targeted killing of a minority Sikh community member in Peshawar in Pakistan. New Delhi also conveyed to Islamabad on January 17 and January 28 its serious concerns over recent cases of abduction of Hindu girls in Pakistan.

The US called the protest against the CAA as part of “vigorous democratic scrutiny” of the new citizenship law of India. Trump Administration also nudged Modi Government to ensure equal protection for all under the law.

With less than a fortnight left before the US President likely to visit India, Pompeo on Wednesday apparently tried to strike a balance and soothe the ruffled feathers in New Delhi as he echoed Government of India to condemn atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan.