*WASHINGTON: United States Secretary of State Michael ‘Mike’ Pompeo hasissued a Presidential waiver for Pakistan, exempting it from any subsequentsanctions that follow a country’s designation as a violator of religiousfreedom.*
On Monday, Secretary Pompeo designated Pakistan and nine other nationsas *Countriesof Particular Concern (CPC)* for alleged violations of religious freedom(in the 2019-2020 period). Pakistan subsequently rejected this designation,stating that it was an “arbitrary and selective assessment”, which was“completely against the realities on the ground and raises serious doubtsabout the credibility of the exercise”.
These designations, which fell under the ambit of the *United StatesInternational Religious Freedom Act of 1998*, leads to the imposition ofstrict economic sanctions against the alleged violator.
The United States’ Ambassador-at-large for International Religious FreedomSamuel D. Brownback mentioned in a press briefing on Tuesday that *some* ofthe designated countries have been exempted from these sanctions.
Brownback stated that “For Pakistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, andTurkmenistan, the Secretary issued a waiver for the presidential actionrequirement, determining that there were important national interests ofthe United States requiring the exercise of the waiver authority”.
Furthermore, Pakistan also pointed out that “the glaring omission of India,where the RSS-BJP regime and their leaders openly disregard religiousfreedom and discriminate against minorities communities in an institutionalmanner, is unfortunate and puts the credibility of the US report intoquestion”.
Ambassador Brownback, upon being reminded in the press briefing of thediscriminatory policies being enacted by the Modi government, stated that”There were several recommendations made by the commission that theSecretary did not follow, and this was one of them,” adding that “We watchthe situation in India very closely. The Secretary traveled there, multipletimes … and is well aware of a lot of the communal violence that’shappening in India”.
Upon the designations pertaining to Pakistan, Ambassador Brownback statedthat “we have reviewed extensively the situation in Pakistan and India, andI’ve visited both countries in this role. I’ve visited both countries … andwe note the problems that are taking place in our annual report in bothPakistan and India”.