Russia on Wednesday accused the United States of meddling in India’s domestic affairs and attempting to interfere in the Lok Sabha elections, reported RT News.

Moscow cited the US Commission on International Religious Freedom’s annual report, dated May 1, to justify its claims. The report had flagged India as a “country of particular concern” for the year 2024. The list also included Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia as countries of concern with regard to the protection of their citizens’ religious freedoms.

“[There have been] regular unfounded accusations by the United States against New Delhi,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing, PTI reported citing RT News.

“We see that they groundlessly accuse not only India but also many other states of violating religious freedoms. [This is a] reflection of the United States’ misunderstanding of the national mentality, the historical context of the development of the Indian state and disrespect for India as a state.”

Zakharova added that the US’ accusations were aimed at creating an imbalance in the internal political situation in India and “complicating” the general election.

India’s external affairs ministry on May 2 had described the US Commission on International Religious Freedom as a “biased organisation with a political agenda”.

“We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even seek to understand India’s diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos,” Randhir Jaiswal, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.

On Wednesday, Zakharova also commented on a report by The Washington Post that alleged the involvement of a Research and Analysis Wing officer named Vikram Yadav in an alleged foiled plot to assassinate Sikh Separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States.

The report, published on April 30, was the first time that allegations emerged about the identity and affiliation of an individual from within India’s foreign intelligence agency in the Pannun case.

The report also cited assessments of American intelligence agencies that the operation against Pannun had been cleared by Samant Goel, the former chief of India’s foreign intelligence agency..

However, on Wednesday, Zakharova said that Washington has not yet provided any reliable evidence of the involvement of Indian citizens in the plot against Pannun. “Speculation on this topic in the absence of evidence is unacceptable,” she said.

She added: “The Washington Post, it seems to me, should use the term “repressive regime” [for the United States government]. It is difficult to imagine a more repressive regime than Washington, both in domestic and international affairs.”

The United States’ spy agencies, according to the April 30 report in The Washington Post, also “tentatively assessed” that India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was likely to have known about the plans of the Research and Analysis Wing to kill Pannun. However, the newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying that “no smoking gun proof” had emerged.

India’s external affairs ministry has said that the report made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter”.

The Washington Post’s report came after the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York on November 29 announced that it had filed “murder-for-hire charges” against another Indian citizen named Nikhil Gupta in connection the alleged assassination plot. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Gupta was arrested on June 30 by the Czech authorities at the request of the United States when he travelled from India to Prague.

The Constitutional Court in the Czech Republic has stayed lower court orders approving Gupta’s extradition to the United States.