UCC - Barak Obama

 Barack Obama says India may ‘pull apart’ over minority rights

Economic success will depend on unity across faith and community lines, Mr. Obama said. He has been sounding the alarm on the issue since he was president

June 22, 2023 10:34 pm | Updated June 23, 2023 09:36 am IST - NEW DELHI

Kallol BhattacherjeeKALLOL BHATTACHERJEE

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Former U.S. president Barack Obama speaks during a discussion at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens on June 22, 2023. 

Former U.S. president Barack Obama speaks during a discussion at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens on June 22, 2023. | Photo Credit: AP

NEW DELHI

India may “pull apart” if the rights of the religious and ethnic minorities are not upheld, former U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday. Speaking in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Mr. Obama expressed concern about the rights of vulnerable sections in Indian society and emphasised that the Biden administration should discuss these issues “honestly” with Prime Minister Modi. 

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“If the [U.S.] President meets with Prime Minister Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a Hindu majority India is worth mentioning. If I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know well, part of my argument would be that if you don’t protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, there is a strong possibility that India would at some point start pulling apart,” said Mr. Obama who is among the biggest supporters of President Biden within the Democratic Party. 

“We have seen what happens when you start getting those kinds of large internal conflicts. So that would be contrary to the interests of not only the Muslim India but also the Hindu India. I think it is important to be able to talk about these things honestly,” said Mr. Obama.

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The remarks were delivered in response to Ms. Amanpour’s question on President Biden’s policy on the defence of democracy across the world. “President Biden whom you know extremely well has made the defence of democracy the centrepiece of his administration. He has called the President of China a dictator and is sticking with it. He is also hosting as we speak the Prime Minister of India, Modi, who is considered to be autocratic or at least an illiberal democrat. How should a President engage with those kinds of leaders either in the naming of them or in dealing with them,” Ms. Amanpour had asked.

Mr. Obama hosted PM Modi once in September 2014 and twice in 2016 and Mr. Modi hosted him in Delhi in January 2015 when the US President was also the “Chief Guest” at the Republic Day celebrations. 

Mr. Obama had expressed concern about social harmony in India during his official visit. In a speech that he delivered on January 27, 2015, at Siri Fort Auditorium, he had said, India’s success as an economy depended on its “unity”, “The peace we seek in the world begins in human hearts... And nowhere is that more important than India. Nowhere is it going to be more necessary for that foundational value to be upheld. India will succeed so long as it is not splintered along the lines of religious faith — so long as it’s not splintered along any lines — and is unified as one nation.”