U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act

admin September 14, 2020 Daily Current Affairs

The Bharatiya Janata Party is now the first Indian political party to have named itself as a foreign principle of a US-based organisation.
The Overseas Friends of the BJP (OFBJP) has registered under the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) under the US Department of Justice.
The Act says that “agents representing the interests of foreign powers in a political or quasi political capacity [must] disclose their relationship with the foreign government and information about related finances”.
After the FARA registration, the OFBJP will have to declare whenever its members meet US legislators, hold public events or receive funding from US groups.
There are also other Indian entities registered under the Act – largely legal, lobby or public relations that work with the Indian Embassy or the tourism department.
Probable reason for this is, in April this year,
- “The U.S. department of Justice had announced that it would conduct an FARA enforcement drive with wider scrutiny of all consultants and organisations and sent a number of “deficiency notices”, asking suspected foreign agents to register or stop activity on behalf of foreign entities.”
The OFBJP has denied receiving such a notice.
The OFBJP-USA members can participate in the US election campaign and support any candidate or a party in their personal capacity but they have been instructed not to use BJP or OFBJP name during the campaign.