Since the second Donald Trump administration took office, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became one of the first world leaders to meet the new American president in February 2025, U.S.-India relations have been dominated by a cluster of issues: illegal immigration, reciprocal tariffs, Washington’s role in mediating the India-Pakistan war, India’s oil purchases from Russia, billionaire Gautam Adani’s U.S. bribery indictment. The long-awaited U.S.-India trade deal has been unresolved for months.
Now, another less visible issue is surfacing politically: opposition from Republicans and Christian evangelical organizations in the U.S. to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment bill. It was expected to be tabled during the monsoon session of the Indian Parliament that concluded yesterday, but was not introduced.
The bill would amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), which governs how nonprofits and charities in India receive funding from abroad. The amendment would introduce a “designated authority” with the powers of a civil court, which could take provisional or permanent control of an organization’s foreign-funded assets and unutilized funds if its FCRA certificate were canceled, surrendered or lapsed without renewal.
Critics from multiple quarters, including opposition parties, chief ministers, Christian organizations and civil society groups, argue that it could disproportionately target Christian institutions, given the recent history of enforcement action under the law. The backlash prompted Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah to clarify that the bill was “religion neutral” during his meetings with Christian delegations.
Hindu nationalists, meanwhile, have argued that foreign-funded Christian missionary activity, particularly in Adivasi and Dalit communities in central and northeastern India, has led to religious conversion carried out under the cover of healthcare, education and social work activities — something that Christian organizations dispute. Still, the charge has long made Indian society uneasy, and Republican lawmakers’ objections to the bill are adding to tensions between the two countries.
A prominent escalation came last week, when Rep. Riley M. Moore — a first-term Republican from West Virginia — took to X to call the FCRA “a clear attack against Christians.” If the bill proceeded, he wrote, “it would be a point of major concern” in the countries’ bilateral relationship. His post was widely reported in the Indian media, prompting the Modi government to respond that the bill was India’s internal matter.
Christian organizations and Christian media in the U.S. and United Kingdom have been building pressure on the Indian government over the last few months. The Washington-based International Christian Concern published its first detailed warning on April 2. On July 28, as the Indian Parliament was in session, the U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide called the bill’s reintroduction a “deeply alarming escalation.”
On Aug. 8, after Modi posted on X about receiving a phone call from Vice President JD Vance, some Indian commentators suspected the FCRA bill was on the agenda. An Indian government readout of the call said only that Modi and Vance, after reviewing “progress in the India-U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership,” went on to exchange “views on regional and global developments of mutual interest,” without mentioning any specifics. The White House provided no details of the conversation.
The last time Modi had publicly disclosed a call with Vance was during Operation Sindoor — India’s May 2025 military response to the Kashmir terror attack, which triggered a four-day cross-border offensive against Pakistan. So when Modi said that Vance had called him again, more than a year later and amid the FCRA standoff, media and commentators took notice of the timing. A day later, India’s ambassador to the U.S., Vinay Kwatra, published a detailed “myth vs. reality” rebuttal on X, rejecting claims the bill would cut off foreign funding or target any religion.
Earlier, ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India in late May, Rep. Chris Smith had urged him to raise the issue during his trip. Smith had drawn attention to the suspension of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity FCRA license in 2021 — a decision that was reversed in January 2022 following public pressure — warning that, if the bill were passed, churches and dioceses would be “at risk of being taken over by the Indian state.”
Rubio began his India trip in Kolkata, visiting the Missionaries of Charity, before heading to New Delhi. He sought to reassure conservative Christian and evangelical constituencies in the U.S. while relaying a message to the Indian side.
Republican opposition to the bill comes after several U.S. Christian organizations — including the Colorado-based Compassion International and Washington state-based World Vision — which send donations to Indian churches, missionary networks and faith-based charities have seen their FCRA licenses canceled and Indian operations shut down in recent years. Other organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to renew their registrations or receive fresh approval.
According to media reports, more than 20,000 FCRA licences have been canceled in the last 15 years, including over 10,000 for Christian groups, amplifying allegations that the government has weaponized the law against the Christian community.
While some Democrats have called attention to the persecution of Muslims and other Indian minorities, Republican opposition to the FCRA may have less to do with religious freedom and more to do with pressure from a Christian evangelical donor base intent on maintaining its missionary work and charitable giving in India.
Although this parliamentary session ended without a vote on the FCRA bill, the retreat looks tactical rather than final. The legislation is unlikely to disappear, since it touches on the state’s ability to regulate nonprofits and is important to a country India considers one of its closest Western allies.