New RSS group registers with justice dept to lobby in America

RSS Friends’ Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing came just days before RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat held a major rally at Madison Square Garden in New York

A new organisation, RSS Friends registered with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) on August 27 as a foreign agent representing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), despite the RSS’ previous assertions that it does not lobby in the US.

In its filings with the DoJ, RSS Friends explicitly listed the RSS as its “foreign principal” along with the address of the organisation’s new headquarters in Delhi’s Keshav Kunj. The newly registered group also disclosed that its work will remain primarily informational, but that it does not have a written employment or lobbying contract with the RSS with specified compensation and deliverables. RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar didn’t respond to queries seeking comment despite multiple reminders.

RSS Friends’ Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing came just days before RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat held a major rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. The RSS, celebrating its centenary this year, is the ideological fount of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“RSS Friends’ proposed activities are primarily informational, educational, public-relations, and community-engagement activities. Consistent with its governing documents and applicable law, it may communicate with members of the public, journalists, media organisations, researchers, academic and policy institutions, community leaders, civil-society organisations, and, where appropriate, government agencies or officials,” the filing reads.

It added: “The absence of a written contract should not be understood as a representation that no relationship, request, understanding, coordination, authorisation, direction, or other relevant factual connection exists. RSS Friends will disclose the actual facts relevant to its activities.”

RSS Friends’ website provides more detail about its objectives, which tend to revolve around correcting “misconceptions about the RSS” pushed by “politically motivated actors” that have created “negative repercussions for the Indian diaspora, particularly Hindu Americans.” It is not clear how old the organisation is, but the rssfriends.org websie was first registered in 2017. It is also not clear when the current version of the website was launched.

Three individuals linked with RSS Friends are mentioned in the DoJ filings: Rajendra Sonarikar, Pratikkumar Suthar and Jayant Pant. Suthar’s Linkedin profile says he “coordinates global outreach in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)” and has served in his position since March 2024. Suthar is based in New Delhi while it is presently unclear where Sonarikar and Pant reside. RSS Friends did not respond to a request for comment from HT.

The new registration follows a prolonged controversy over the RSS’ lobbying in the United States. In November 2025, news outlet Prism reported that elite lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs was hired to “introduce the RSS to US officials” through State Street Strategies, another lobbying outfit. Subsequent disclosures filed with the US DoJ showed that Squire Patton Boggs had been paid $330,000 for its work on behalf of the RSS in 2025. To be sure, the RSS categorically denied reports that it hired lobbyists in America. Squire Patton Boggs subsequently disclosed its contract was terminated on September 30, 2025.

The matter caused a significant political controversy in India in late 2025.

“This is hardly the first time that the RSS has betrayed national interest,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in response to the matter at the time.

The registration of RSS Friends coincides with a systematic effort by the RSS to enhance its outreach to the United States. Prior to Mohan Bhagwat’s visit in August this year, the organisation’s second-in-command Dattatreya Hosabale undertook a multi-day tour of America in April. This was explained by Hosabale as an effort to interact with “influential opinion makers” in Western nations to communicate the RSS’ mission and objectives.

Shashank Mattoo is the Washington DC-based US Correspondent for Hindustan Times. Shashank covers the Trump administration, the India-US relationship and America's policies towards South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific.Read More