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The U.S. State Department has now issued its 2023 Action
Report on International Child Abduction.
India has been declared by the State Department to be non-compliant with the Hague Abduction Convention for the last eight years.
The State Department has reported to
Congress that within the past year it has taken the following actions in this
regard against India:
·
Officials at the highest levels of the
Department engaged with the Government of India on the issue of IPCA. Senior
U.S. government officials pressed the Indian government to assist with
resolving abduction cases and accede to the Convention.
·
The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi delivered
Diplomatic Notes in May 2022, June 2022, August 2022, and December 2022,
requesting the Government of India work with the Department through dedicated
bilateral meetings to resolve abduction cases. These Diplomatic Notes to the Ministry
of External Affairs also called for high-level dialogue between the Special
Advisor for Children’s Issues and the Indian Ministry of Women and Child
Development outside of the annual U.S.-India Consular Dialogue.
·
In April 2022, the Secretary of State met with
the Indian Minister of External Affairs as part of the U.S.-India 2+2
Ministerial and pressed the Indian government to assist with resolving all
pending abduction cases while highlighting the lack of progress on IPCA cases
since his first visit in July 2021.
·
In October 2022, a Department delegation, led by
the Special Advisor for Children’s Issues, met with Indian officials from the
Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of External Affairs,
marking the first high-level engagement on IPCA outside the annual U.S.-Indian
Consular Dialogue.
·
In December 2022, Department officials briefed
Indian judges and child advocates during an International Visitor Leadership
Program on child protection. Briefers discussed preventing and resolving IPCA
cases and provided information on U.S. law and the International Hague Network
of Judges.
·
In January 2023, the Special Advisor for
Children’s Issues met with the Indian Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington,
DC, and discussed ways to improve bilateral cooperation on IPCA, including
through increased outreach on U.S. resources available to families in the
United States to prevent abductions.
·
In March 2023, Embassy New Delhi hosted a legal
symposium with over 400 attendees. The child-centric discussion brought
together Indian judicial leaders and government officials to discuss issues
surrounding and the effects of international custody disputes.
·
In April 2023, the Assistant Secretary for
Consular Affairs raised IPCA as a leading issue during the U.S.-India Consular
Dialogue with the Indian Joint Secretary of External Affairs and Joint
Secretary of Women and Child Development. The Indian government requested
additional details regarding a U.S. proposed working group to address IPCA and
related consular issues.
·
In May 2023, the Office of the Spokesperson
released a media note to announce the release of the 2023 Annual Report on
International Child Abduction and listed India as a country cited for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance.
·
Also in May 2023, U.S. Embassy New Delhi
delivered a demarche to the Ministry of External Affairs notifying the Indian
government that the Department had cited India in the 2023 Annual Report for
demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance. The Special Advisor for Children’s
Issues also delivered the demarche to the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC.
Jeremy D.
Morley has provided expert evidence to courts in several U.S. states on such
matters concerning India.
