NEW DELHI — A year after the arrest of an Indian diplomat accused of exploiting a domestic worker in New York ruptured relations, India and the United States have put the episode behind them, and President Obama arrives here Sunday to hail a new era of cooperation.
During his visit, the president plans to seek common ground on climate change, civilian nuclear power, trade and security. But human rights groups worry that Mr. Obama, in his eagerness to make diplomatic breakthroughs, will brush aside serious issues that may stand in the way.
Human rights advocates say they suspect that Indian diplomats are still circumventing American law to exploit domestic workers in the United States and have asked the State Department to investigate. They have voiced concern over forced labor and human trafficking inside India as well. And they say they hope Mr. Obama raises questions about free expression, gay rights and political intimidation.
“There’s a lot of issues bubbling under the surface that they’re not talking about publicly,” said John Sifton, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, an advocacy organization based in New York.
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Human Rights First said Mr. Obama should raise the issue of the reinstatement of a colonial-era law criminalizing sexual activity between men. In a letter to Mr. Obama, Elisa Massimino, the group’s president, also cited the forced labor of tens of millions of Indians. “More people are enslaved in India than in any other country in the world,” she wrote.
Mr. Sifton said he hoped Mr. Obama would press Mr. Modi to rein in his own supporters, who Mr. Sifton said had been intimidating political rivals. “There’s a heckler’s veto where Modi’s supporters can shout down their opponents,” Mr. Sifton said. “The argument is that Modi isn’t doing enough to tamp down his own supporters.”
A version of this article appears in print on January 25, 2015, on page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Human Rights Groups Press Obama on India. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
