'Unfortunate that vote-bank politics being practised in international relations': India slams US report

India on Friday accused the United States of practising “vote bank” politics in international relations, a day after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken highlighted “rising attacks” on minorities in India.

Blinken was speaking at the release of the state department’s annual report on international religious freedom.

It was the second time in less than two months that the US had directly expressed unease about a rising trend in human rights violations in India.

The report is compiled by the State Department, based on inputs from US embassies located around the world.

While all countries are documented inside the report, only the most egregious – or those with antagonistic political ties with Washington – are mentioned by the secretary of state in his introductory remarks at the yearly release functions.

Slamming the US' report, the Ministry of External Affairs said that these are ill-informed comments made by the US officials.

“We’ve noted release of US State Dept 2021 Report on Int'l Religious Freedom & ill-informed comments by senior US officials. Unfortunate that vote bank politics is being practised in int'l relations. We'd urge that assessments based on motivated inputs & biased views be avoided,” MEA spokesperson Amrindram Bagchi said in an issued statement.

"As naturally pluralistic society, India values religion, freedom and human rights. In our discussions with the US, we have regularly highlighted issues of concern there, including racially ethnically motivated attacks, hate crimes and gun violence," the ministry further added.