India opposes attempts to portray the world’s largest democracy negatively with unverified allegations at the UN

MEA Deputy Secretary Barkha Tamrakar delivered India’s statement at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on the agenda item on the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances in New York, USA. | Photo credit: X/@IndiaUNNewYork

India argued that human rights should not be used as a tool for political coercion or selective targeting of countries, as it opposed attempts to turn allegations and incomplete statistics into a “negative characteristic” of the world’s largest democracy.

“India engages in international human rights mechanisms, but such engagement must be based on dialogue, consultation, cooperation with non-selectivity and transparency as guiding principles,” said Barkha Tamrakar, Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Ms Tamrakar delivered India’s statement to the UN General Assembly Third Committee on the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances in New York on Tuesday (October 20, 2026). She emphasized that human rights should not be used as a tool for political pressure or selective targeting of countries. “We urge delegations to quote the report faithfully and not inflate the humanitarian message into the verdict,” she said.

India remained ready to clarify specific, properly documented cases through established channels, but formally opposed any “attempt to convert unverified allegations, incomplete statistics or a report that does not include any observations of the Indian country into a negative characterization of the world’s largest democracy,” Tamrakar said.

Her remarks came amid concern by UN human rights experts over recent youth-led protests in Delhi. On Tuesday (October 20th), more than 20 UN human rights experts in Geneva expressed concern over what they described as a “repeatedly harsh police response” to peaceful youth-led demonstrations in the country’s capital, calling on the authorities to ensure justice for reported human rights abuses during the protests.

Last week, India also dismissed as “hearsay” a report by a UN human rights expert that took note of a “satirical political movement” formed by the country’s youth and said it faced retaliation. New Delhi urged an expert to “verify” the claims before “defaming issues based on unverified allegations”.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over “reports of mass detentions of protesters, protest leaders, members of civil society organizations, lawyers and journalists” before and during large-scale demonstrations in Delhi. India called the office’s remarks “unwarranted” and “unacceptable interference” in the country’s internal affairs.

Published – 21 Oct 2026 11:06 AM IST