MOSCOW :
TARGETING the US for interfering in India’s internal affairs,
Russia has said that
Washington is trying to “complicate” the ongoing Lok Sabha
elections, including by making “regular unfounded accusations” on threats to religious
freedom in the country.
Reacting strongly to the
recent report released by the
United States Commission on
International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF), Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said,
Washington not only “groundlessly” accuses India, but also
many other States.
“Regular unfounded accusations by the United States
against New Delhi - we see that
they groundlessly accuse not
only India, but also many other States - of violating religious
freedoms are a reflection of the
United States’ misunderstanding of the national mentality, the historical context of
the development of the IndianState and disrespect for Indiaas a State,” Zakharova toldmediapersons in Moscow.
“I am sure that this alsocomes from the neocolonial
mentality, the mentality of thecolonial period, the period of
the slave trade, and imperialism. This does not only apply to India. 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,” added the
Russian MFA spokesperson.
During the regular media
briefing, Zakharova was also
asked about a report published in a US newspaper that
accused an Indian official of
a “foiled assassination” plot
on foreign soil.
“According to the information we have,Washington
has not yet provided any reliable evidence of the involvement of Indian citizens in the
preparation of the murder of
a certain G S Pannun.
Speculation on this topic in
the absence of evidence is
unacceptable,” stated
Zakharova.
Last week, India slammed
the USCIRF report, saying
that the agency’s efforts to
interfere in India’s ongoing
elections will never succeed.
“They have been releasing
their reports earlier as well,
in earlier years. The USCIRF
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.We really have
no expectation that USCIRF
will even seek to understand
India’s diverse, pluralistic and
democratic ethos. Their
efforts to interfere in the
largest electoral exercise of
the world will never succeed,”
MEA spokesperson Randhir
Jaiswal told reporters in New
Delhi.