India Rejects USCIRF Report On Religious Freedom, Calls It 'Malicious and Motivated'

India has dismissed a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), accusing it of distorting facts and promoting a "motivated narrative".

The USCIRF, in its 2024 annual report published on Wednesday, urged the US State Department to label India as a "Country of Particular Concern" due to "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom".

Responding to the development, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit USCIRF further.”

Jaiswal described the USCIRF as a “biased organisation with a political agenda” that “continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a motivated narrative about India”.

The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the US Congress to monitor and report on religious freedom abroad.

This is not the first time India has rejected the commission's findings, with New Delhi having done so consistently in recent years.