The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended targeted sanctions on organisations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and India's external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), alleging violations of religious freedom. The panel also reiterated its recommendation to designate India as a "country of particular concern", reported Hindustan Times.
USCIRF recommendations in annual report
In its latest annual report, the USCIRF urged the US government to consider policy actions against India over religious freedom concerns. The commission also recommended linking arms sales and trade relations to the issue.
Also Read | Trump-Xi summit in doubt? US President pressures China to help secure Strait of Hormuz
It called on Washington to apply pressure on India and suggested the US government should "enforce Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act to halt arms sales to India based on continued acts of intimidation and harassment against US citizens and religious minorities".
The commission further stated that conditions for religious freedom in India have "continued to deteriorate" and alleged that authorities were "targeting" religious minorities and places of worship.
"Several states undertook efforts to introduce or strengthen anti-conversion laws to include harsher prison sentences. Indian authorities also facilitated widespread detention and illegal expulsion of citizens and religious refugees and tolerated vigilante attacks against religious minority communities," the report said, as quoted by HT.
Criticism of certain laws and incidents
The report also referred to legislation such as the Waqf (Amendment) Act and the Uttarakhand State Authority for Minority Education Act. It cited incidents of communal clashes in states including Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
According to the USCIRF, groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which it described as an RSS affiliate, were linked to some of the violence cited in the report.
India's response to earlier USCIRF findings
India's Ministry of External Affairs has not yet commented on the latest report. However, the government has repeatedly rejected the commission's assessments in the past.
In 2025, the ministry said the USCIRF continued its pattern of issuing biased and politically motivated reports. It stated that the commission’s efforts to highlight isolated incidents misrepresented India’s broader social reality.
"Such efforts to undermine India's standing as a beacon of democracy and tolerance will not succeed. In fact, it is the USCIRF that should be designated as an entity of concern," the Ministry said last year.
Also Read | Oil prices surge past $104 as Donald Trump pushes allies to reopen Strait of Hormuz
The USCIRF was established in 1998 through an act of the US Congress. Its mandate is to monitor global religious freedom and make policy recommendations to the US President, Secretary of State and Congress.
The commission says it functions independently, although its nine commissioners are appointed by the US President and senior political leaders in both houses of Congress.
India has previously pushed back strongly against the body's reports and has also denied visas to USCIRF delegations in the past.
