Groups urging President Trump to visit India’s Christians

(International Christian Concern) – A group of Indian-American Christians has urged President Donald Trump to visit with India’s Christian community during his upcoming state visit next week. According to these Indian-American Christians, visiting with Christians in India will help President Trump understand the growing persecution faced by Indian Christians and other minorities.

Next week, President Trump will pay a state visit to India after accepting an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two-day trip will be President Trump’s first visit to India.

In a letter to President Trump, the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) urged President Trump to meet with members of India’s Christian community while in the country.

“Today, Christians across India are living in fear,” FIACONA wrote. “Pastors, social workers, and ordinary Christians are arrested, tortured, or killed. Christian properties are burnt or destroyed by supports of the ruling party.”

“We urge you to meet with selected leaders of the Christian community in India as a show of support to the freedom of conscience and religion in India on this historic occasion,” FIACONA’s letter concluded.

In January 2015, President Barrack Obama made a speech in New Delhi calling on India to uphold the principle of religious freedom. Speaking at a town hall in New Delhi, President Obama said, “India will succeed so long as it is not splintered along the lines of religious faith, as long as it is not splintered along any lines, and it is unified as one nation.”

This speech was made only months after the current BJP-led government, led by Prime Minister Modi, came to power. This rise to power by the BJP was coupled with an unleashing of attacks on religious minorities, including Christians, by radical Hindu nationalists. Will President Trump take greater action to protect persecuted Christians in India?