India strongly rejected the UN expert’s “baseless observations” on Myanmar, saying refugees from the Southeast Asian nation were “under severe pressure” after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Delhi condemned it as a “biased and clouded” analysis and said the 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam was being viewed through a “biased communal lens”.
“I take serious objection to the baseless and biased observations in the report regarding my country. I strongly condemn the biased approach taken by the Special Rapporteur to the innocent civilian victims of the April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam through a biased communal lens,” MP Dilip Saikia said on Tuesday.
Saikia delivered India’s statement on the human rights situation in Myanmar at an interactive dialogue at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.
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What does the UN expert report say?
India strongly rejected the comments made by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, in his report on the human rights situation in Myanmar.
Referring to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the Andrews report said that “following the terrorist attack on Hindu tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2025, Myanmar refugees in India were under intense pressure, although no individuals from Myanmar were involved in the attack”.
“Refugees in India told the Special Rapporteur that they have been summoned, detained, interrogated and threatened with deportation by Indian authorities in recent months,” the Special Rapporteur’s report said.
The Special Rapporteur’s report also noted that in early May 2025, approximately 40 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, were detained in Delhi and flown by an Indian military aircraft to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and transferred to an Indian Navy vessel.
She added that Indian authorities also deported dozens of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh in May.
“The Special Rapporteur has written to the Government of India regarding these deportations and has met with government officials who have undertaken to report after investigating these events. The Special Rapporteur continues to await that report,” it said.
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Don’t rely on ‘unverified, distorted media reports’: MP Saikia
MP Dilip Saikia rejected the claim, saying that the claim that the Pahalagm terror attack “affected displaced persons from Myanmar has absolutely no factual significance”.
“My country rejects such biased and frowned upon ‘analysis’ of the Special Rapporteur,” he said.
The lawmaker pointed out that India “is witnessing an alarming level of radicalization among displaced persons, leading to consequential pressure and impact on the law and order situation.
“I would also like to urge the SR (Special Rapporteur) not to rely on unverified and distorted media reports whose sole purpose seems to be to denigrate my country, home to people of all faiths, including more than 200 million Muslims, which is about 10 percent of the world’s Muslim population,” Saikia said.
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India seeks “inclusive political dialogue” in Myanmar
Dilip Saikia also emphasized that India, as a close neighbour, continues to support all confidence-building initiatives and promote the Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led path to peace, stability and democracy.
He reiterated India’s “consistent position” calling for an immediate end to violence, release of political prisoners, unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and inclusive political dialogue.
“We strongly believe that sustainable peace can only be achieved through inclusive political dialogue and timely resumption of democratic processes through credible and participatory elections,” Saikia said.
He noted that the “deteriorating” security and humanitarian conditions remain a matter of deep concern for India, particularly as these developments have cross-border implications for the country, including issues posed by transnational crimes such as drug, arms and human trafficking.
Saikia pointed out that India has consistently emphasized a people-centric approach in its engagement with Myanmar.
After the March 2025 earthquake, he said, India immediately launched “Operation Brahma”, sending over 1,000 metric tons of relief supplies and deploying medical teams as first responders.
He added that this built on Delhi’s earlier humanitarian initiatives, including Operation Sadbhav during Typhoon Yagi in 2024 and India’s continued assistance during previous natural disasters.
