Biden is Feting the Indian PM Despite His Dismal Human Rights Record – The Diplomat

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious alternative for President Joe Biden to honor with a state go to.

Since Russia’s Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine 16 months in the past, India has boosted its economic system by buying growing portions of low cost Russian oil.

Human rights teams and political opponents have accused Modi of stifling dissent and introducing divisive insurance policies that discriminate in opposition to Muslims and different minorities. And India’s international minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has espoused a worldview through which there are not any allies or associates, solely “frenemies.”

However Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White Home on Thursday for a state go to, has made clear he sees U.S. ties to India — the world’s greatest democracy and one among its fastest-growing economies — as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will likely be important to addressing a few of the most troublesome international challenges in coming years, together with local weather change, disruptions associated to synthetic intelligence, and China’s rising energy within the Indo-Pacific.

“Now, we all know that India and the US are large, difficult nations,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken instructed the U.S.-India Enterprise Council in Washington forward of Modi’s go to. “We definitely have work to do to advance transparency, to advertise market entry, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the complete potential of our folks. However the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it’s full of promise.”

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A lot is at stake for either side within the Indian chief’s three-day go to to the U.S., which begins Wednesday with a cease in New York, the place Modi will lead a global yoga day occasion on the United Nations.

Biden needs to deliver India nearer to the US because the administration tilts its international coverage towards Asia and appears to construct partnerships within the area within the face of an ascendant China.

Modi, for his half, is making an attempt to usher in a extra affluent period for his nation of 1.4 billion, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into workplace greater than 9 years in the past.

The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen U.S.-India financial and navy ties. He additionally has his personal worries about Chinese language navy actions, alongside the Himalayan border and within the Indian Ocean. India has been locked in a long-running standoff with China within the rugged mountainous space of Ladakh, the place all sides has stationed tens of hundreds of navy personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

“As China has risen, India and the U.S. each want each other and the U.S. wants extra companions within the Indo-Pacific,” mentioned Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic observe on the O.P. Jindal International College and a former Indian ambassador. “They’ll’t do it alone anymore as a result of China is catching up with the U.S., and the Chinese language economic system is considerably bigger than India’s. So, there’s a congruence of geopolitical pursuits right here.”

There are many indicators that the connection already has taken a leap ahead.

Commerce between the U.S. and India in 2022 climbed to a document $191 billion. The Indian diaspora within the U.S. stands at practically 5 million and has develop into an financial, cultural and political powerhouse. Biden has sought to reinvigorate the Quad, a global partnership of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. And U.S. protection gross sales to India have risen from close to zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020.

Nonetheless, the state go to comes with some problematic points for Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that human rights can be a driving power in his international coverage.

Elaine Pearson, Asia director for the group Human Rights Watch, urged Biden in a letter to not draw back from confronting Modi on India’s “worsening human rights scenario.” Her group plans a Tuesday screening in Washington of a BBC documentary vital of Modi that was banned by the Indian authorities.

The documentary delves into Modi’s oversight as chief minister of Gujrat through the lethal 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left greater than 1,000 lifeless. In 2005, the U.S. revoked Modi’s visa to the U.S., citing considerations that he didn’t act to cease the communal violence. An investigation authorized by the Indian Supreme Courtroom later absolved Modi, however the stain of the darkish second has lingered.

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Extra lately, Modi has confronted criticism over laws amending the nation’s citizenship legislation that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants however excludes Muslims, an increase in violence in opposition to Muslims and different spiritual minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the latest conviction of India’s high opposition chief, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi’s surname.

“Modi’s authorities has additionally demonstrated blatant bias in defending BJP supporters and associates accused in a variety of crimes, together with homicide, assault, corruption, and sexual violence,” Pearson wrote, utilizing the initials for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Celebration. “On the worldwide stage, Modi’s authorities has typically confirmed unwilling to face with different governments on key human rights crises, abstaining or refraining from condemning grave human rights violations elsewhere.”

The Indian authorities has frequently defended its human rights document and insisted that India’s democratic ideas stay strong.

Modi has provided solely restricted criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, urging Putin throughout a gathering final September to “transfer onto a path of peace.” The New Delhi-Moscow relationship dates again many years, with Moscow providing key cooperation on protection, nuclear power and different points.

The Biden White Home has privately pressed India to chop its reliance on Russian oil, however has largely prevented publicly criticizing New Delhi’s stance. In 2021, Russian oil accounted for simply 2 p.c of India’s annual crude imports. That determine now stands at greater than 19 p.c.

Biden is predicted to once more increase India’s reliance on Russian oil in addition to human rights in his non-public talks with Modi, in keeping with a senior Biden administration official who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate preparations for the go to.

The White Home sees indications that Modi’s authorities has been transferring away from Russia for the reason that begin of the warfare, noting a refined shift in tone in Modi’s public feedback about Ukraine, a rising need by India to diversify its sources of navy {hardware}, and an growing consciousness by the Indian authorities about China and Russia’s tightening relationship and what it might imply for India.

Richard Rossow, chair of U.S.-India Coverage Research on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research in Washington, mentioned the Biden White Home has made the calculation to maintain its “powder dry” regardless of its disappointment with India’s ballooning oil purchases.

“We don’t wish to danger severing the connection with India,” Rossow mentioned of the administration’s cautious method. “Discover small and modest methods to nudge, however don’t make {that a} deciding issue.”

The official state go to portion of Modi’s journey begins Thursday and contains an Oval Workplace assembly with Biden, an deal with to a joint assembly of Congress and a lavish White Home dinner hosted by Biden and first girl Jill Biden.

Modi is also to be honored at a State Division luncheon on Friday hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Blinken, and he’s scheduled to deal with members of the Indian diaspora earlier than departing Washington.

Biden and Modi are anticipated to make bulletins on cooperation in larger training, area and extra. Excessive on the agenda is deepening protection cooperation. India has sought to cut back its reliance on Russian navy {hardware} by shopping for from the U.S., France, Germany and different nations.

However it would probably take many years or extra for India to utterly wean itself off Russian navy {hardware}, mentioned Rudra Chaudhuri, director of Carnegie India, the New Delhi arm of the worldwide suppose tank.

“Understand that 65 p.c of India’s protection package remains to be Russian,” Chaudhuri mentioned. “Let’s say India reduces purchases from Russia to one-third over 25 years, that’s nonetheless an enormous a part of your protection ecosystem.”