The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent bipartisan federal advisory body, has called for targeted sanctions against India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) in its 2026 Annual Report. The recommendations stem from the commission’s assessment of deteriorating religious freedom conditions in India during 2025.
Released in early March 2026, the report highlights ongoing issues, including new legislation allegedly targeting religious minority communities and their places of worship, communal violence, harassment of minorities (particularly Muslims and Christians), and impunity for Hindu nationalist groups. USCIRF has once again recommended designating India as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for engaging in and tolerating “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom.
Key policy recommendations directed at the U.S. government include:
- Imposing targeted sanctions on individuals and entities such as the RSS (the ideological parent organization of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party) and R&AW, including asset freezes and/or U.S. entry bans, citing their alleged “responsibility and tolerance” of severe religious freedom violations.
- Linking future U.S. security assistance, arms sales, and bilateral trade policies to measurable improvements in India’s religious freedom record.
- Enforcing Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act to potentially halt arms sales to India, due to reported intimidation and harassment of U.S. citizens and religious minorities.
- Pressing India to permit in-country assessments by USCIRF and the U.S. State Department.
- Urging Congress to reintroduce and pass the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024 to monitor alleged acts of transnational repression by the Indian government targeting religious minorities in the United States.
The report notes that USCIRF’s recommendations are non-binding; the U.S. State Department ultimately decides on CPC designations and any sanctions. India has not been officially designated as a CPC in previous years despite similar USCIRF recommendations.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strongly rejected the USCIRF findings, describing the report as “motivated,” “biased,” and reliant on “questionable sources and ideological narratives.” The government has dismissed it as presenting a “distorted picture” of the country and involving “selective targeting” of India. Similar criticisms have been leveled at USCIRF reports in prior years.
The recommendations have sparked widespread debate, with some viewing them as increased international scrutiny of India’s policies toward religious minorities, while others criticize them as unwarranted interference in India’s internal affairs. As of mid-March 2026, no sanctions based on this report have been implemented by the U.S. government.
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