Respect and guarantee human rights to Uighurs of Xinjiang, says India

India had abstained at U.N. Human Rights Council vote on Xinjiang on October 6

Uyghurs and other members of the faithful leave after prayers at the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as seen during a government organised trip for foreign journalists on April 19, 2021 . | Photo Credit: AP

A day after abstaining at United Nations Human Rights Council vote on Xinjiang, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday that India “remains committed to upholding all human rights”.

In first such comments, New Delhi said that the human rights of the people of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region should be "respected and guaranteed" and called on China to address issues.

“The human rights of the people of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region should be respected and guaranteed. We hope that the relevant party will address the situation objectively and properly,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

“India remains committed to upholding all human rights. India’s vote is in line with its long held position that country specific resolutions are never helpful. India favours a dialogue to deal with such issues,” he said.

Mr. Bagchi said India has taken note of assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR). “We have taken note of the OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China,” he said.

The draft resolution was pushed by a group comprising Canada, Denmark, Finland, the UK, the US, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and was co-sponsored by some other countries.

In its recent report, the OCHCR said serious human rights violations have been committed in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in the context of the Chinese government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies.

“The implementation of these strategies, and associated policies in XUAR has led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions on a wide range of human rights,” it said.

“These patterns of restrictions are characterized by a discriminatory component, as the underlying acts often directly or indirectly affect Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim communities,” the report said. 

(With inputs from PTI)