United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that his government is monitoring a "rise in human rights abuses in India".
"We regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values [of human rights] and to that end, we are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials", Blinken stated during a joint briefing after 2+2 talks between US and Indian defence and foreign ministers in Washington.
The joint press briefing was also attended by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
During the briefing, Blinken also stated that India and the US share a commitment to democratic values, such as protecting human rights.
Yet, he did not elaborate on his remark or make any further comments on the matter, while his Indian counterpart also refrained from commenting on the human rights issue.
The statement followed remarks made by US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who has been critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his policy toward Muslims. The latter make up around 20 percent of the country's population.
Last week, Omar compared Prime Minister Modi with former Chilean General-turned-President Augusto Pinochet.
"But I ask, what about Modi in India? How are we promoting a free and open region by supporting Modi? So, I ask you, why has the Biden administration been so reluctant to criticise Modi's government on human rights?", Omar stated.
The critical observations by Omar come against the backdrop of a row over the wearing of hijabs in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, where Muslim students have been banned from putting on their Islamic headscarves inside classrooms.
Last week, another row erupted in Delhi after a Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic authority asked meat-sellers to shut down their shops to avoid hurting religious sentiments of Hindus during the ongoing Navratri festivities.
In the past, Omar has raised concerns over a "surge in attacks" against Muslims for the consumption of beef and their targeting of the community in Jammu and Kashmir.
On Monday, in his opening remarks at a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Modi, President Biden said he was looking forward to seeing his Indian counterpart in Japan on 24 May during a summit of the leaders of the Quadrilateral coalition.
Japan will host the summit of the Quad leaders, where extensive discussions on ways to further enhance cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to be on the agenda.