- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
While India on Friday (7) defended its decision to abstain from voting at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) on the rights situation in Xinjiang in China saying it was in line with the practice of not voting on country-specific resolutions, the opponents of the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were not convinced.
India on Thursday (6) abstained on a resolution at the UNHRC seeking debate on the human rights situation in the north-eastern province of China. The ultimate vote went in favour of Beijing with 19 members of the UNHRC opposing it, 17 supporting it, and 11, including India, Malaysia, and Ukraine, abstaining.
Asaduddin Owaisi, one of India’s prominent Muslim leaders, on Friday lashed out at prime minister Narendra Modi asking why New Delhi abstained on the UN resolution and whether the latter was “scared of offending (Chinese president) Xi Jinping”.
“Will the PM Modi saheb explain the reason for India’s decision to help China out in the UNHRC on the Uighur issue by choosing to abstain from an important vote? Is he so scared of offending Xi Jingping, whom he met 18 times, that India can’t speak for what is right?” Owaisi, the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and a parliamentarian from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, asked in a tweet.
Will the PM Modi saheb explain the reason for India’s decision to help China out in the UNHRC on the Uighur issue by choosing to abstain from an important vote? Is he so scared of offending Xi Jingping, whom he met 18 times, that India can’t speak for what is right? https://t.co/TJNy3Ffn2w
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) October 7, 2022
The opposition Indian National Congress, which has often accused Modi of going soft on China, also attacked the prime minister.
Party spokesperson Shama Mohamed said in a tweet, “India abstains on draft resolution at UNHRC for a debate on human rights violations of Uyghurs in China. Far from holding China accountable for stealing our land, PM Modi can’t even bring himself to condemn China on human right violations. Why is @narendramodi so scared of China!”
India abstains on draft resolution at UNHRC for a debate on human rights violations of Uyghurs in China
Far from holding China accountable for stealing our land, PM Modi can't even bring himself to condemn China on human right violations. Why is @narendramodi so scared of China!
— Dr. Shama Mohamed (@drshamamohd) October 6, 2022
Sources familiar with the matter said New Delhi has traditionally voted against or abstained on country-specific resolutions at the UNHRC. It is said that China’s presence in the UNHRC was a factor behind the decision for any backing for the Xinjiang issue by India could have seen China making similar moves on other issues.
The draft resolution on the situation in the Chinese province was presented by a group featuring countries such as Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, UK and the US, and was co-sponsored by countries such as Turkey.
India on Friday, however, remarked on the situation in Xinjiang for the first time, saying the human rights of the people of the area “should be respected and guaranteed”.
The remarks were made by Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of the country’s external affairs ministry, at a regular press briefing.
He said New Delhi had taken note of the assessment made by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of “human rights concerns” in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
[With PTI inputs]
