Switzerland currently holds the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council.
- India described Swiss comments on minority treatment as surprising, shallow, and ill-informed
- Switzerland urged India to protect minority rights and uphold freedom of expression and media
- "Switzerland should focus on its own challenges, such as racism and xenophobia," India said
India has issued a rebuttal to Switzerland at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), describing comments made by the Swiss delegation on the treatment of minorities in India as "surprising, shallow, and ill-informed."
The exchange took place on Wednesday during the General Debate on the oral update by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the 60th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Speaking at the Council, Switzerland called on India to take stronger action to safeguard the rights of minorities. The Swiss delegate also urged New Delhi to "take effective measures to protect the minorities and uphold the rights to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media."
Switzerland currently holds the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council, making its observations carry additional diplomatic weight.
India's Response
Responding on behalf of India, Kshitij Tyagi, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, rejected the Swiss statement and said:
"We would also like to respond to the surprising, shallow, and ill-informed remarks made by Switzerland, a close friend and partner," Mr Tyagi said. "As it holds the UNHRC presidency, it is all the more important for Switzerland to avoid wasting the council's time with narratives that are blatantly false and do not do justice to the reality of India. Instead, it should focus on its own challenges such as racism, systematic discrimination and xenophobia. As the world's largest, most diverse and vibrant democracy, with a civilizational embrace of pluralism, India remains ready to help Switzerland address these concerns."
Parallel Exchange With Pakistan
On the same day, India also delivered a separate and strongly worded Right of Reply to Pakistan, following remarks made by Islamabad during the debate.
Mr Tyagi accused Pakistan of misusing the Council to advance political propaganda and reiterated India's longstanding position that Pakistan sponsors cross-border terrorism.
"We are compelled, once again, to address provocations from a country whose own leadership recently likened it to a 'dump truck', perhaps an inadvertently apt metaphor for a state that continues to deposit recycled falsehoods and stale propaganda before this distinguished Council," Mr Tyagi told the chamber.
He referred to multiple terrorist attacks linked to terror groups based in Pakistan, citing incidents in Pulwama, Uri, Pathankot, Mumbai, and most recently the Pahalgam attack in April, which he described as turning "a meadow of joy into a killing field."
Drawing attention to global memory of terrorism, Mr Tyagi reminded the Council of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, pointing out that Pakistan had sheltered Osama bin Laden until his death in a US Navy SEAL raid in Abbottabad.
"We need no lessons from a terror sponsor; no sermons from a persecutor of minorities; no advice from a state that has squandered its own credibility," Mr Tyagi said.
