External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said that there was no discussion on human rights in India during the India-US ‘2+2’ foreign and defence minister dialogue in Washington on Monday.
At a joint news conference after the 2+2 dialogue on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said that the US is monitoring some recent "concerning developments" in India, including a rise in "human rights abuses" by some government, police, and prison officials.
The comments were made by Blinken at the joint news conference that was addressed by Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Blinken did not elaborate. While Jaishankar, did not comment on the human rights issue at the press briefing, the minister reacted to the remarks on Wednesday.
"Look, people are entitled to have views about us. But we are also equally entitled to have views about their views and about the interests, and the lobbies and the vote banks which drive that. So, whenever there is a discussion, I can tell you that we will not be reticent about speaking out," Mr Jaishankar said at a press briefing Wednesday, adding that the human rights issue was not a topic of discussion during the India US 2+2 ministerial meeting this week.
Jaishankar asserted that whenever there is a discussion New Delhi will not be reticent about speaking out.
"I would tell you that we also take our views on other people's human rights situation, including that of the United States. So, we take up a human rights issues when they arise in this country, especially when they pertain to our community. And in fact, we had a case yesterday...that's really where we stand on that," he said.
S-400 purchase and CAATSA sanctions
In another strong rebuttal to the US that has threatened India in the past with sanctions for purchasing the Russian S-400 missile defence system, Jaishankar said that the CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) is a US law and it’s for the American administration to decide on it.
“It is their legislation and whatever has to be done has to be done by them,” said the EAM at the press meet, indicating that New Delhi doesn’t really worry about the sanctions.
CAATSA is a US federal law that allowed America to clamp sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The bill was passed by the Senate on 27 July 2017 and then enacted into legislation on 2 August 2017 by then-President Donald Trump.
New Delhi has bought five S-400 missile systems from Russia at a cost of a whopping $5.5 billion as part of the deal that was sealed in October 2018.
Ukraine Crisis
India and China agree that dialogue is the only way out of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said, adding that Americans “obviously” distinguish and differentiate between India and China when it comes to the stands taken by the two countries on Russia amid a raging war.
“If you're asking me how we look at the unfolding developments in Ukraine, I had Minister Wang Yi come to India last month. We shared our respective analyses. But we agreed and still agree that the way out is dialogue and cessation of hostilities will be a necessary first step,” the foreign minister told news agency ANI.
“You're asking me, do the Americans distinguish and differentiate between India and China (over their respective stands on Russia amid the Ukraine crisis). Obviously, they do,” Jaishankar told the news agency when asked if the US clearly understands the reasons behind China's and India's respective stands on Russia.
