A Congressional Briefing on
Capitol Hill, Washington DC, has taken strong exception to the Biden
administration's decision to sell India reaper drones. Speaking on the
occasion at the briefing, titled "US Arms Sales to India: The role of
the US Congress," Human Rights Watch Asia advocacy director John Sifton
criticized “bad optics” of the Biden administration’s intent to sell the
Indian government 31 armed MQ-9 reaper drones with accompanying
munitions.
Sifton
said, this is happening at time when drones are being "used to
assassinate civilians in targeted strikes", that too "just months after
the US uncovered a plot by the Indian government to to assassinate a
Sikh American living in New York."
“The particularly bad
optics of selling this particular weapons platform… [is that it] is best
known for targeted killings, which some would call assassinations,”
asserted Sifton. “That the US negotiated and prepared a proposal at the
same period law enforcement and intelligence agencies were briefing them
on an assassination by an agent of the Indian government on US soil
suggests a disconnect that we find very concerning on the optics.”
“These
things have impacts on people's behavior back in India, including the
Prime Minister himself,” he added. “Whether the Biden administration
likes it or not, the message sent is we don't really care that much
about the fact that India's human rights situation is deteriorating.”
Speaking
at the briefing, Carolyn Nash, Asia advocacy director at Amnesty
International USA, pointed out that the proposed arms deal must also be
considered in the light of the Modi government’s engagement in
transnational repression, "including its recent attempt to assassinate a
Sikh American living in New York."
“That case did not happen
in a vacuum,” said Nash. “It emerged from domestic issues; from the
misuse of laws, particularly purported counterterrorism and financial
laws; from long histories of ethnic and religious violence and
targeting; and from abuse of surveillance systems that allowed for this
to happen.”
“Think
about [violence in India] as if you're talking about the Jim Crow
south,” said Ria Chakrabarty, policy director at the diaspora group
Hindus for Human Rights. “The communal violence, the misuse of state and
local authorities… There's [an] active participation of local and state
actors that also goes up to the federal level.”
“All of this
violence, all of these attacks on human rights are about fundamentally
reforming India from a secular republic to a Hindu nation,” Chakrabarty
added. “The BJP’s election message is that Modi… has delivered this
Hindu state to the world stage. And this arms deal is a good
encapsulation of how he has done that.”
“President Clinton
[once] referred to the India-Pakistan border as the most dangerous place
on earth, because that is the only place where there are three nuclear
armed states who have previously fought one another are now bordering
one another,” said Ari Tolany, Director at the Security Assistance
Monitor for International Policy. “With that concern introduced, we see a
stronger imperative needed for Congress to keep eyes on [arms sales to
India].”
The briefing was co-organized by Hindus for Human
Rights, Indian American Muslim Council, Dalit Solidarity Forum, New York
State Council of Churches, World Without Genocide, Justice for All,
Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America,
India Civil Watch International, Center for Pluralism, International
Commission for Dalit Rights, American Muslim Institution, International
Society for Peace and Justice, North American Manipur Tribal
Association, Association of Indian Muslims of America, Periyar Ambedkar
Thoughts Circle Australia, and Alliance Against Islamophobia.
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