India has rebuffed remarks made by the UN’s top human rights official regarding the country’s foreign influence laws, asserting that the principles of “transparency and accountability cannot be applied selectively.”
Ambassador Arindam Bagchi, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, expressed his “humble disagreement” with a brief reference to India included in the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk’s Global Update during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council this week.
In his address, Turk pointed to a “worrying trend” concerning civic space, noting the consideration or adoption of “transparency” or “foreign influence” laws in over 50 countries, including India. He warned that such laws could severely affect civil society, freedom of expression, and the right to associate.
In response, Bagchi highlighted those democratic nations, including India, have long had regulations in place to address legitimate concerns about the misuse of foreign funding. “Portraying a dependence on the crutches of opaque or illegal foreign funding is also a disservice to India’s vibrant civil society,” he stated.
Additionally, Bagchi noted that ongoing global conflicts have exacerbated divisions within the Human Rights Council. He emphasized the need for the High Commissioner’s Office to focus on its core mandates, as he described Turk’s global update as a rather bleak assessment of human rights worldwide.
Highlighting India’s recent general elections, Bagchi expressed pride in the electoral process, which involved 650 million voters and was described as the largest democratic exercise in history. He reiterated that concerns regarding the integrity of this process were unwarranted, emphasizing that India is supported by a pluralistic society with strong institutional safeguards.
“We believe that human rights for all can be best promoted and protected in such environments,” Bagchi concluded.
(With inputs from IndiaToday)
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