Top US Diplomat To Visit India; 'Democracy, Inclusion Of Marginalised Religious And Ethnic Minorities' On Agenda

A top US State department official will discuss 'democracy' and 'inclusion of marginalized religious and ethnic minorities' during her visit to India.

Apart from India, the US diplomat will also visit Bangladesh.

"Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights and US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Uzra Zeya will travel to India and Bangladesh July 8-14, 2023," the US State Department said in a statement on Friday (7 July).

"In India, she will meet with senior government officials to discuss the deepening and enduring US-India partnership, including advancing shared solutions to global challenges, democracy, regional stability, and cooperation on humanitarian relief," the statement added.

 According to the US State Department, during her visit to Bangladesh, Zeya will meet with senior officials to "discuss shared humanitarian concerns, including the Rohingya refugee crisis; labor issues; human rights; free and fair elections; and combating trafficking in persons".

"In both countries, Under Secretary Zeya will engage with civil society organizations on freedom of expression and association, and inclusion of women and girls, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable groups, including marginalized religious and ethnic minorities," the statement added.

The visit comes after US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti’s “ready to assist in any way if asked” remark (watch this) on the ongoing violence in Manipur has raised hackles in India. 

Garcetti, while on a visit to Kolkata on Thursday (6 July), was speaking to reporters.

On a question about ethnic violence in Manipur, Garcetti replied: “We pray for peace in Manipur. I don't think it's about strategic concerns, it's about human concerns. You don't have to be an Indian to care when children or individuals die in this sort of violence. We know that peace is a precedent for so many good things.

"There has been so much progress in the North East and the East. The country has done some remarkable things in recent years and those can’t continue without peace.

"So we stand ready and willing to assist in any way if asked. We know it's an Indian matter and we pray for that peace and that it may come quickly. Because we can bring more collaboration, more projects, more investment if that peace is in place."

On a question of India's democracy, Garcetti said: “Democracy is difficult, right? We come from a place of a lot of humility in the United States. Protecting minority rights is not easy to do even in the United States. Democracies are both about majority rule and about all voices being protected.

"Those are our values, we talk about them, we talk about them in an unabashed way and we believe in them deeply in our core. They are reflected in the documents of our country as well as are reflected in the documents of yours as well. 

“Democracy is not about what the Vice President (Kamala Harris) talked about at the state luncheon… its not just about establishing democracy, it is about maintaining democracy always.

"So that’s something we struggle to do in the United States and I know that people, since the founding of the Republic of India, do the same. We won’t avoid those conversations in private, but we will also not wag our finger. I think there’s an unconscious paternalism that for too long defined relations with India.

“India is for Indians to determine its pathway. We’re here as friends, we’re here to have conversations that are important, we’re here to engage in the promotion of everyone’s rights whether it's making sure that there’s no trafficking of persons, the empowerment of women, the LGBTQI populations are respected….we raise the pride flag proudly from the embassy and from here at the consulate because these are just the things we believe make the world a better place.

"And so we think that we gain a lot when democracies are able to engage …and building a sense of belonging which is a guiding principle for me as ambassador and for us as a country”.