India plays down criticism by US Senator Ben Cardin

India on Thursday made light of the criticism of alleged human rights violations, extra-judicial killings and religious intolerance by a key American senator, saying it was his "first visit" and hoped after his meetings here he would have developed "better understanding" of the country.

"This was Senator's first visit to India. He had a number of meeting and also met Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. And we hope that he has developed better understanding and appreciation of India," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Cardin, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee visiting India, called upon the government here to address the issues including "religious intolerance", which, he said, he would be raising with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for whom he is hosting a reception in Washington next week.

The American senator made a specific reference to India's anti-conversion laws and said these had been framed long ago but were being used in some parts of India to infringe on people's right to religious freedom. He also alleged that there were extra-judicial killings in different parts of India which cannot be allowed to continue.