United States will raise the matter with the Indian government, said Mark Toner.
US urged Indian authorities to adopt fairer process for foreign NGO, on Wednesday. India has banned US-based Christian charity organization Compassion International.
“NGOs do valuable work overseas. Certainly these countries and governments have their own reasons for the laws they pass, but we believe it should be transparent and clear why they’re shutting down these organization,” Mark Toner, the State Department’s acting spokesperson said in a news media briefing.
Toner expressed concern on the issue and said that the United States will raise the matter with the Indian government.
“I’m not going to necessarily speak to the substance of our diplomatic conversations with India, but I think we’re concerned. I mean, when we see, like I said, a group like Compassion International, which we believe is working and doing important work in India and is closed down, that it’s a matter of concern, but certainly we’ll raise that with the Indian Government,” he said.
Toner said that foreign-funded NGOs in India faced significant challenges over the past couple of years.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen over the past couple of years a number of foreign-funded NGOs in India that have encountered significant challenges in continuing their operations,” Toner said. “As we believe it’s imperative that all parties work transparently and cooperatively in a way that, obviously, respects India’s laws but also encourages a transparent process, and these are views that we’ve made clear to the Indian Government.”
Last December, India’s home ministry said it is unlikely to reconsider its decision banning the Compassion International from funding Indian NGOs notwithstanding consistent appeals by the US authorities.
However, Toner pointed out that the strong bilateral relations with India makes discussions possible in such issues.
Toner also answered a question regarding Kansas letter to Indian prime minister in wake of Indian American Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s death.
“I think we’ve spoken out both at the White House and I know Secretary Tillerson has made clear to his counterparts our condolences over these killings. They are, it’s important to note, still under investigation by local law enforcement and we’re waiting to see the results of those investigations. So I don’t really want to speak to what may or may not have been the motivation behind these killings,” he said.