An independent US commission monitoring global religious rights on Wednesday included India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam in its list of violators of religious freedom.
The others included this year in the government-appointed United States Commission on International Religious Freedom list of "countries of particular concern" (CPC) are Eritrea and Turkmenistan.
The 10-member commission recommended that Myanmar, China, North Korea, Iran and Sudan remain in the CPC list.
The listing were made after the commission reviewed evidences throughout the year on countries where governments "may have engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and egregious abuses of freedom of religion," chairman Michael Young told a news conference.
Young urged Secretary of State Colin Powell and President George W. Bush to "deal with the abuses" in the countries that had been identified and "work with them to try to map out programs where abuses can be reduced or eliminated".