US, India to discuss issues around international child abduction by one parent: US official

US, India to discuss issues around international child abduction by one parent: US official

India and the United States will discuss on Friday issues around returning a child abducted by a parent and removed from the country of usual residence in violation of another parent or guardian's custody rights, a senior US officer said.

US Bureau of Consular Affairs Assistant Secretary Rena Bitter, who is here to lead the US-India Consular Dialogue, said India has been a model partner in adoptions and the US wants to explore how the two countries can address the challenges posed by international parental child abduction.

"We work very closely with the Indian government to make sure that both of our governments are doing everything that we can do to protect our most vulnerable citizens — the children. India has been a model partner in adoptions…now we want to see what we can do to work more closely on international parental child abduction which is area of challenge for both our countries," Bitter told PTI in an interview.

International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) is the removal or retention of a child outside their country of habitual residence in breach of another parent or guardian's custody rights.

India is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Abduction Convention) and there are no multilateral or bilateral treaties in force between India and the United States intended to resolve IPCA.

Signed by 96 countries, the Hague Convention provides for a mechanism to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another.

According to the Department of State's 2023 annual report on IPCA, India is among the 14 countries that do not adhere to any protocols concerning international parental child abduction.

"India does not adhere to any protocols with respect to international parental child abduction. In 2022, India continued to demonstrate a pattern of noncompliance. Specifically, the competent authorities in India persistently failed to work with the Department of State to resolve abduction cases," the report had said.

"As a result of this failure, 65 per cent of requests for the return of abducted children remained unresolved for more than 12 months," it had added.

The other "non-complying" countries as stated by the report are Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Peru, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. PTI GJS GJS TIR TIR