'Desire To Complicate...': Russia Claims US Trying To Interfere In Indian General Election

Russia has claimed that the United States is trying to interfere in Indian General Election, saying that it is part of a campaign to interfere in India’s internal affairs.

Maria Zakharova, the official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the US wants to unbalance the internal political situation in India in order to complicate the general parliamentary elections taking place in the country.

When asked about US interference in Indian elections, she said, “Absolutely. I think that this is a desire to complicate the ongoing general parliamentary elections in India on the part of the United States and is part of a campaign to interfere in India’s internal affairs.”

She further said that the reason is the desire to unbalance the internal political situation in India in order to complicate the general parliamentary elections taking place in the country. “Of course, this is part of interference in India’s internal affairs,” she added.

India Slams US Agency For Attempt To Interfere In Indian Elections

India had earlier blasted the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for attempting to “interfere” in its electoral exercise and continuing to indulge in “propaganda” against the country, “masquerading” as part of an annual report.

In an unusually sharp reaction to the USCIRF’s latest report that has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the organisation is known to be a “biased” entity with a political agenda.

“The US Commission on International Religious Freedom is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report,” Jaiswal said. “We really have no expectation that the USCIRF will even seek to understand India’s diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos,” he added.

“Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed,” Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing. In its latest annual report, the USCIRF has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom.

It has also renewed its recommendation to the US state department to declare India as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” in view of the alleged violations of religious freedom. In its annual report, the USCIRF has said religious freedom in India continues to deteriorate and that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre has reinforced “discriminatory” nationalist policies.

(With PTI inputs)

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