Modi denies human rights violations in India at Biden press conference

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denied that discrimination against minorities existed under his government during a press conference with US President Joe Biden.

Biden said he discussed human rights and other democratic values with Modi on Thursday, after rights advocates and his Democratic Party's progressive lawmakers urged him to raise the issue publicly.

Asked during a rare press conference by a reporter what steps he was willing to take to "improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and to uphold free speech," Modi suggested they didn't need to be improved.

"Our Constitution and our government, and we have proved democracy can deliver. When I say deliver; caste, creed, religion, gender — there is no scope for any discrimination (in my government)," Modi told reporters at the White House.

India's importance for the US to counter China makes it difficult for Washington to criticise the human rights situation in the world's largest democracy, analysts say.

The US president rolled out the White House red carpet for Modi on Thursday as part of his effort to jump-start a stronger US-India relationship.

The only two Muslim women members of the US Congress — Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib — along with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, separately said they would boycott Modi's address to Congress on Thursday, citing allegations of abuse of Indian dissidents and minorities, especially Muslims.

US Senator Bernie Sanders said Modi's "aggressive Hindu nationalism" has "left little space for India's religious minorities."

The benefits of the Indian government's policies are accessible to everyone, Modi said on Thursday.