Amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden state visit to the United States, Former US President Barack Obama on Thursday said it was appropriate for President Biden to bring up "troubling" concerns about the Indian democracy.
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Obama said that protecting the rights of minority groups was essential.
“Part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility India at some point starts pulling apart. And we’ve seen what happens when you start getting [into] those kinds of large internal conflicts,” he said while acknowledging PM Modi's work on climate change and other important areas, adding that issues of democracy must also be discussed.
“I do think that it is appropriate for the president of the United States, where he or she can, to uphold those principles and to challenge — whether behind closed doors or in public — trends that are troubling,” Obama noted.
The former US President, who is currently in Athens, also shed light upon how more and more autocrats around the world are taking charge. He said that during his presidency, too, he had to meet many people he did not necessarily agree with, but that it is one of the complex facets of the job.
“Look, it’s complicated,” Obama said. “The president of the United States has a lot of equities. And when I was president, I would deal with figures in some cases who were allies, who, you know, if you pressed me in private, do they run their governments and their political parties in ways that I would say are ideally democratic? I’d have to say no.”
Obama said in the interview that no democracy could thrive with high levels of social or economic inequality. “In some ways, it’s indicative of the degree to which people’s life chances have grown so disparate,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on his maiden state visit to the US, received a grand welcome at the White House today where he held bilateral talks with Biden. He will also hold a rare press conference taking two questions from journalists.
Addressing the diaspora gathered at the South Lawn, Biden welcomed Modi and described the relationship between US and India as "one of the most defining relationships in the 21st century"
He also pointed out the importance of constitutional rights like freedom of expression, religion etc as he said, “Equity under the law, freedom of expression, religious pluralism, and diversity of our people are the core principles that have endured and evolved, even as they faced challenges, throughout our nation's histories.”
Notably, a group of 75 lawmakers, including Indian-American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal, had written to Biden urging him to raise with Modi "areas of concern" and discuss the full range of issues important to a successful, strong, and long-term relationship between the two countries.
Amid PM Modi’s US visit, a section of the American society, led by human rights activists, has launched a protest in view of the condition of human rights and press freedom in India.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, however, said that the US President could bring up US concerns about democratic backsliding in India but he will not lecture PM Modi on the subject.
