From 23rd to 26th May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to land in India in his first trip to the country since taking office. Kolkata, Agra, Jaipur and New Delhi have been added to his itinerary for this important tour. Rubio’s maiden India visit will commence from Kolkata, and he will also make a stop at the controversial Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
Meanwhile, US Congressman Chris Smith has urged him to bring up the issue of suspension of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the “charity” on 21st May (Thursday).
“During its Monsoon Session from July 21 to August 12, the Indian Parliament is set to consider a bill amending India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. If adopted, the bill would sharply expand the ability of the Indian state to seize the property and assets of groups that receive foreign funding – the vast majority of these being Christian churches and charities, such as hospitals and schools. In effect, the total property of entire churches and dioceses could soon be at risk of being taken over by the Indian state,” he wrote in an opinion piece for Washington Examiner.
He stated that it would be a “a win-win” situation for Washington and New Delhi if the bill is put on hold, otherwise it might cause long-term harm to relations between the two sides.
US congressman Chris Smith in an Op Ed wants US Secretary of State Rubio to raise the issue of suspension of the FCRA license of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 22, 2026
Rubio begins India visit from Kolkata & will visit Missionaries of Charity. pic.twitter.com/3zQ4AwxVoL
Smith complained that the government would be able authorised to confiscate the assets of foreign-funded organisations, such churches, whose foreign funding permits expire, are revoked or are not renewed if the tabled bill is approved in the parliament. He portrayed it as a normalised occurrence in India which happens due to a variety of reasons, most often due to small, technical or accounting discrepancies.
“The effect is that, for an error in a single transaction, the entire property of a church, including equipment, land, schools, hospitals, and bank funds, could vest immediately in a government-designated authority, which could then manage, sell, or otherwise dispose of them at will,” he added.
“Worse, the bill’s vesting provisions apply if even a small portion of an asset was financed with foreign contributions, meaning, for example, that the entire assets of a diocese, owning perhaps hundreds of churches, could be seized for an error in processing a single small foreign donation. Worse yet, the authority to seize assets would apply retroactively, so organisations that have had their FCRA licenses revoked or not renewed years ago could still have their assets seized today,” Smith alleged protesting the bill designed to safeguard Indian national interests.
He declared that the brief suspension of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity’s FCRA licence in 2022 serves as an example of the threat because, even if the licence was subsequently reinstated, all of the order’s assets might have been taken over outright and lost forever under these amendments.
Smith, like a true American, could not refrain from promoting the distorted narrative of the “persecution of minority rights” and anti-India rhetoric, specifically targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for introducing the bill.
“It’s important to state that concerns about the Indian government’s respect for religious freedom long predate the government of Modi and the BJP. Previous Indian governments, led by the Congress Party, also failed to respect religious freedom. The anti-conversion laws predate the rise of the BJP, the party Modi leads. Yet Modi has been the prime minister of India since 2014, he and the BJP must take full responsibility for the FCRA law they are proposing,” he insisted.
However, the American politician eventually decided to tamper his unsolicited suggestions and attempt to intrude in the internal matters of India by employing a more amiable tone to commend India’s Hindu roots. He conveyed, “Fortunately, the bigger picture for US-India relations is much brighter. India is right to see itself as a civilisational state, a Hindu cultural superpower. It is also a vibrant democracy, both free and stable, and by many measures, one of the most successful countries in the world,” stressing, “The United States and India need to form a true partnership.”
According to Smith, there is no other international alliance that could be more beneficial to humanity than that between the United States and India. He highlighted that Chinese government subject its citizens to completely nightmarish social controls and surveillance while Europe is on the path of decline.
He expressed that forming the relationship will be a difficult undertaking that calls for genuine respect for each other’s cultures and a sincere desire to learn from each other. He maintained that such a relationship would not be able to grow if the Indian government passed the legislation.
“This was, after all, precisely the path taken by Russian, Chinese, and other communist governments and it did as much as anything to drive a permanent wedge between them and the US,” Smith fired, in a threatening shot to India. He ultimately demanded, “I urge Rubio to work with his Indian counterparts toward the withdrawal of the FCRA amendments. Improving US-Indian relations must include the freedom for faith-based organisations to operate in India without having their assets nationalised.”
Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity FCRA license issue
Notably, this FCRA license issued was raised in 2021 by then West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who accused that the center had frozen the bank accounts associated with the organisation. “Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry froze all bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India. Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised,” she tweeted.
Similar claims were also made by CPI(M) state secretary and opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra who claimed that along with bank accounts, the government had also frozen cash in hands of the Missionaries of Charity.
However, the reality was soon revealed when the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that it did not take any such action. MHA further revealed that it was the Missionaries of Charity people who sent a request to SBI, wanting the bank to freeze its accounts.
Additionally, MHA informed that Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was denied the permission to renew its FCRA registration under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and the renewal application of MoC was rejected on the grounds of not meeting eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 & Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR), 2011.
In addition to the MHA, Missionaries of Charity also issued a statement over the matter. The group stated that its FCRA registration was neither cancelled nor suspended. It further added there there was no freeze ordered by the MHA on any of the bank accounts.
