Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, led the four-member delegation along with federal minister Suresh Gopi, a parliamentarian elected from southern Kerala state and a member of Modi's Bhartiya Janata Party.

The 45-minute meeting at the prime minister's office "was cordial, and the prime minister gave us a good hearing," Thazhath told the media at the bishops' conference office in New Delhi.

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The rules for the law were announced Monday. It establishes a religious test for migrants from every major South Asian faith other than Islam. Critics argue that the law is further evidence that Modi's government is trying to reshape the country into a Hindu state and marginalise its 200 million Muslims.

The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalisation for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations.

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"On behalf of the Catholic Church in India, and on my own behalf, I extend my heartiest congratulations to you and to the Bharatiya Janata Party on the emphatic election victory.

"The people of India have given a clear mandate for a stable and effective Government," wrote Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. Read more