A senior United States official has said that religious freedom and human rights in several countries, including India and Pakistan, remains a matter of concern, with Muslims being the main victims of such violations.
"We... express concern about the religious dimension to human rights violations in India.... We also protest the treatment given to Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia," US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula said on Tuesday.
Stating that many of the victims of religious persecution are Muslims, she said the US 'advocated religious freedom for Muslims around the world, such as China, Chechnya and Burma'.
In a communication to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, she said, "We have increased dialogue with countries like Pakistan, Uzbekistan and other central Asian neighbours. We have closer ties to Russia and China. And we will not miss an opportunity to raise our concerns with those countries."
She said the backing of the US-led war against terrorism by these countries did not in any way influence Washington's assessment of the human rights situation there.
"We have not suppressed our objections to their human rights violations because of this increased cooperation. We have and will continue to raise our concerns with our partners, regardless of their level of counter-terrorism cooperation. They are not mutually exclusive goals."
The official said President George W Bush had publicly stated during his trip to China that the war on terrorism 'was not a green light to crack down on innocent minorities in the name of security'.