The White House on Monday lambasted the online harassment faced by a reporter who questioned Indian prime minister Narendra Modi about the human rights issue during his press conference in Washington.

“It’s completely unacceptable and it’s antithetical to the very principles of democracy that … were on display last week during the state visit," said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also underlined Mr Kirby’s message saying: “We’re committed to the freedom of the press, which is why we had the press conference last week.”

“We certainly condemn any efforts of intimidation or harassment of any journalist that is trying to do their job,” she added.

Sabrina Siddiqui, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, asked on 22 June what steps Mr Modi and his government would be willing to take “to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities … and to uphold free speech” in India.