Former US president Barack Obama said Thursday that India risks "pulling apart" if the Muslim minority is not respected, calling for the issue to be raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hours after his comments, US President Joe Biden, addressing a joint press conference with PM Modi, said that believing in the dignity of every citizen is in India's DNA. "We believe in the dignity of every citizen, it's in America's DNA and I believe in India's DNA that a whole world has a stake in our success," Biden said.
In an interview with CNN earlier, Mr Obama said: "If I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know well, part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, there is a strong possibility at some point that India starts pulling apart."
On Biden's meeting with PM Modi, Mr Obama said, "If the President meets with Prime Minister Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a majority-Hindu India, that's something worth mentioning." He also said that addressing human rights with allies was always "complicated."
PM Modi, responding to a question from a US journalist in a rare press conference, emphatically denied any discrimination against the Muslim minority.
"Regardless of caste, creed, religion, gender, there's absolutely no space for discrimination," PM Modi said.
PM Modi held talks with Biden at the White House on his maiden state visit to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual and global interests, aimed at further boosting the Indo-US strategic relations in areas like defence, space, clean energy and critical technologies.
He arrived in Washington from New York where he led a historic event at the UN headquarters earlier in the day to commemorate the 9th International Day of Yoga, attended by UN officials, diplomats and prominent personalities.
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