India on Wednesday squarely rejected the latest annual report for 2025 of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which has shockingly recommended targeted sanctions against India's external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing over the alleged foiled plot in 2023 to kill pro-Khalistan extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
New Delhi:India on Wednesday squarely rejected the latest annual report for 2025 of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which has shockingly recommended targeted sanctions against India's external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing over the alleged foiled plot in 2023 to kill pro-Khalistan extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. The USCIRF report is also understood to have recommended that the US government ought to "designate India as a 'country of particular concern'" for religious freedom violations and also accused India’s ruling BJP of having "propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities" during last year's election campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. The USCIRF report was quoted as stating: “In 2024, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as attacks and discrimination against religious minorities continued to rise.”
In its reaction that reiterated the “biased” stand of the USCIRF, which would “not succeed”, New Delhi said it had no expectations from such an organisation and retorted that in fact it should be USICRF that should be designated as “an entity of concern”. India said: “We have seen the recently released 2025 Annual Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which once again continues its pattern of issuing biased and politically motivated assessments. The USCIRF’s persistent attempts to misrepresent isolated incidents and cast aspersions on India’s vibrant multicultural society reflect a deliberate agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom.” New Delhi added: “India is home to 1.4 billion people who are adherents to all religions known to mankind. However, we have no expectation that the USCIRF will engage with the reality of India’s pluralistic framework or acknowledge the harmonious coexistence of its diverse communities. 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.”
This is the first USCIRF report during President Donald Trump’s second term. Global news agencies said the Trump administration is expected to ignore the USCIRF recommendations, which are not binding. The previous Biden administration had taken up the Pannun case very seriously and even before that had criticised India openly based on the contents of the earlier USCIRF reports. The USCIRF “is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the US Congress to monitor, analyze and report on religious freedom abroad” and “makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the secretary of state and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion” overseas.
It may be recalled that under the earlier Joe Biden administration, the US had last year charged a former Indian government official whom it identified as Vikash Yadav for allegedly masterminding the alleged foiled plot to kill Pannun. According to media reports, the US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York had said it had registered "murder-for-hire and money laundering charges" against Yadav for trying to kill Pannun. At the time of the alleged plot, Yadav was an Indian government official reportedly working for RAW, but the Indian government had last year confirmed that he was no longer in government service. The US had accused Yadav of directing another Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta to kill Pannun. Gupta is now in the custody of the United States after being extradited by the Czech authorities in June last year who had arrested him earlier.
India had in November 2023 set up an inquiry committee following the US allegations in the Pannun case. In January this year, India said the committee submitted its report in which it said, without naming Yadav, that it had “recommended legal action against an individual, whose earlier criminal links and antecedents also came to notice during the enquiry”. India had two months ago stated, “On receipt of information provided by US authorities regarding activities of some organised criminal groups, terrorist organisations, drug peddlers, etc, who undermined the security interests of both India and the US, a high-powered Enquiry Committee was set up by the Govt. of India in November 2023. The Enquiry Committee conducted its own investigations, and also pursued leads provided by the US side. It received full cooperation from US authorities and the two sides also exchanged visits. The Committee further examined a number of officials from different agencies and also scrutinised relevant documents in this connection. After a long enquiry, the Committee has submitted its report to the Government and recommended legal action against an individual, whose earlier criminal links and antecedents also came to notice during the enquiry. The Enquiry Committee has recommended that the legal action must be completed expeditiously. The Committee has further recommended functional improvements in systems and procedures as also initiation of steps that could strengthen India’s response capability, ensure systematic controls and coordinated action in dealing with matters like this.”
According to these media reports, the USCIRF report also said Communist-ruled Vietnam stepped up efforts to regulate and control religious affairs and recommended that Vietnam, a country like India with which Washington has sought to build close ties given shared concerns about China, also be designated as a "country of particular concern", according to media reports.
