A US body has recommended the Donald Trump administration to impose targeted sanctions on “individuals and entities, such as Vikash Yadav and RAW” for their culpability in the attempted murder of a Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil in 2023.
Yadav, a former Indian government diplomat, has been charged for the alleged foiled plot to kill Pannun.
The 2025 report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) alleged that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as attacks and discrimination against religious minorities continued to rise.
The body has recommended freezing the assets and/or barring the entry of selected individuals and entities into the US for their culpability in severe violation of religious freedom.
The USCIRF has also recommended India be designated as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) for engaging in and “tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).”
In 2023, the USCIRF had made a similar recommendation to the Joe Biden administration.
The USCIRF recommendations came the same day when the UP chief minister raised questions on the authority of the Waqf Board to acquire land. In a podcast, the CM said, “They used to look for any property and blackmail the government. In the name of Waqf, they have taken all kind of outrageous decisions, especially Waqf, who says that this land is theirs and then it belongs to them. Which country is this? Who has given you this power? Will you take over any property? Will you take over any place? Will you take over any land? This cannot happen.”
After the report went public, the External Affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal called out the Donald Trump administration for persisting with the previous US government's policy of “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,” said Jaiswal, describing the report as “biased”.
“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,” said Jaiswal. "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 report also recommended to the US government to conduct a "review assessing whether arms sales to India, such as MQ-9B drones under Section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act, may contribute to or exacerbate religious freedom violations".
Authorities in India continued to exploit anti-terror and financing laws, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to crack down on civil society organisations and detain members of religious minorities, human rights defenders, and journalists reporting on religious freedom, it claimed.
In October last year, India sealed a mega deal with the US to procure 31 Predator drones from General Atomics at a cost of nearly USD 4 billion to crank up the military's combat prowess along the contested borders with China.
The supply of the Predator drones is expected to begin in January, 2029.
