Why Biden should be careful about courting India’s Modi government – By Knox Thames and Simran Jeet Singh 

The United States is putting on a full-court press to deepen ties with India. President Joe Biden included India in the first-ever heads of state meeting of “The Quad,” an exclusive group that also includes Japan and Australia, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Delhi as part of his first trip abroad. All in an effort to find friends in Asia to counter expansionist China.

But while Beijing crushes dissent at home and flexes its muscle abroad, is India the right US partner to ensure stability, prosperity, and freedom in the region? Democratic India appears as a logical and natural ally. However, the regressive actions of Narendra Modi’s government put the answer in doubt.

India’s atmosphere has darkened since Prime Minister Modi came to power in 2014. Freedom House recently downgraded the country to “partially free,”citing a “multiyear pattern in which the Hindu nationalist government and its allies have presided over rising violence and discriminatory policies affecting the Muslim population and pursued a crackdown on expressions of dissent.”…

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/12/opinions/biden-india-narendra-modi-china-thames-singh/index.html