Activists ask Biden to publicly rebuke Modi over human rights

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a visit to the National Science Foundation with U.S. First Lady Jill Biden (not pictured) in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S., June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rights advocates in Washington demanded that President Joe Biden publicly call out what they described as India's deteriorating human rights record, saying the U.S. approach of raising the issue in private with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a failure.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, activists and academics also called for hearings in the U.S. Congress about human rights in India under the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Modi, who is on a four-day visit to the United States.