United States President Joe Biden regularly engages with India on human rights issues, including freedom of religion or belief, the White House has said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden “never shies away” from having conversations on human rights issues with other leaders.
“That is something that the president [Joe Biden] regularly does,” Jean-Pierre said during a media briefing on Wednesday. “We encourage all countries to uphold their human rights obligations, and commitments, and to work towards building inclusive societies.”
Jean-Pierre made the remarks replying to a question if the optics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the White House were “problematic” when there were “obvious human rights concerns” under the Bharatiya Janata Party government and “clear differences” over the two countries’ policies on Russia and Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the White House had announced that Modi will be in Washington on a state visit from June 21 to June 24. This will be Modi’s first state visit to the US since 2014. The last state visit to the United States by an Indian was by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009, according to The Indian Express.
On Wednesday, Jean-Pierre said that Biden believes United State’s relationship with India was important and that Washington “needs to continue and build on.”
“This is an important relationship as we speak about the Indo-Pacific, as we talk about how to move forward in that region,” she said.
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