*WASHINGTON: *US President Donald Trump will raise the issue of religiousfreedom in India during his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi nextweek, a senior administration official said, a sensitive subject for theIndian government.
Modi’s government has faced large scale-protests at home and criticismabroad for enacting a citizenship law that is seen as discriminatingagainst Muslims and has deepened concerns his administration in underminingIndia’s secular traditions.
That measure came months after the Indian government withdrew the specialautonomy given to the Muslim-majority territory of occupied Kashmir,tightening its hold. It also jailed dozens of political opponents andseparatists and imposed a communications blackout.
Trump, who is due in India on Monday, will talk about the two countries’shared traditions of democracy and religious freedom, the senioradministration official said in a conference call on Friday ahead of thetwo-trip.
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“He will raise these issues, particularly the religious freedom issue,which is extremely important to this administration,” the official said.
Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party denies any biasagainst the country’s 180 million Muslims.
