U.S. lawmaker urges Congress to review arms sales to India

A U.S. lawmaker and national security experts have urged Congress to review arms sales to India over alleged transnational repression during a briefing at Capitol Hill.

Congressman Jim McGovern, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, also called on Congress to pass the bipartisan and bicameral Transnational Repression Policy Act.

Mr. McGovern urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review India’s eligibility for U.S. arms sales under the Arms Export Control Act.

The congressional briefing titled ‘India’s Transnational Repression: Implications for U.S. National Security,’ held on July 14, was organised by Equitas Forum USA in partnership with Hindus for Human Rights, the Sikh Coalition, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF), the New York State Council of Churches and the Dalit Solidarity Forum, with support from the office of Congresswoman Summer Lee.

Daniel Stanton, a former senior officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, warned that hostile states increasingly use organised criminal networks as instruments of state power.

“They intimidate and coerce diaspora communities, threaten family members at home, recruit criminal proxies, and facilitate lethal violence against individuals living in democratic countries,” he said.

“Transnational repression must be recognised early as a pattern, not as a series of isolated incidents,” Mr. Stanton said.

Stephen Schneck, former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that USCIRF’s 2026 Annual Report, for the seventh consecutive year, recommended designating India as a Country of Particular Concern.

India had rejected the USCIRF’s report, asserting that it misrepresents facts and ‘peddles a motivated narrative’.

Allison McManus, Managing Director of National Security and International Policy at the Centre for American Progress, said strategic partnerships should not shield governments from consequences.

Katie LaRoque, Director for Policy and Advocacy and Mark Palmer Distinguished Fellow at Freedom House, called for an official definition of transnational repression codified into U.S. law.

“Transnational repression is not merely an attack on individual communities, it is an attack on U.S. sovereignty, fundamental civil liberties, and the safety of all who call America home,” Harjot Singh, Federal Policy Manager at the Sikh Coalition, said.

Lavleen Kaur Madahar, Policy Associate at SALDEF, said the objective of transnational repression is “to create enough fear that individuals begin limiting their own speech, advocacy, and participation in civic life.”

“When a foreign government seeks to threaten, surveil, intimidate, or even kill individuals living in the US, that government threatens the U.S. in every conceivable way,” said Ria Chakrabarty, Senior Policy Director at Hindus for Human Rights, who moderated the briefing.

“No foreign government—regardless of its economic importance, strategic relationship with Washington, or geopolitical influence—can intimidate, threaten, or target people living inside this country without consequences,” said Sarita Pandey, Director of Public Affairs and Advocacy at Equitas Forum USA.