India takes note of UN report on maltreatment of minorities in China’s Xinjiang region
Our understanding is that the report is about the serious maltreatment of minorities in Xinjiang. But this is a UNHRC report, so for the moment let the UN comment on it,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said
India on Thursday said it has taken note of a report by the UN human rights office on “serious human rights violations” against religious minorities in China’s Xinjiang region.
“Our understanding is that the report is about the serious maltreatment of minorities in Xinjiang. But this is a UNHRC report, so for the moment let the UN comment on it,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
“I have nothing further to say for the moment, except to note that this is about the serious maltreatment of minorities in Xinjiang,” he told a news briefing in response to a question about the report.
The long-awaited report, issued late on Wednesday in the wake of a visit to China in May by the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said that “allegations of patterns of torture, or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence”.
The stinging report concluded that the extensive arbitrary detentions of Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim communities in Xinjiang, in the context of deprivation of fundamental rights, “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity”.
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esponding to another question about German envoy Philipp Ackermann’s comments about China’s “infringement” along the northern border, Bagchi said there is proper appreciation of India’s position on the issue within the world community.
“Our position on the boundary issue is clear and consistent. We believe that there is a proper appreciation of this in the international community,” he said.
Ackermann had told reporters on Tuesday that China’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh is “outrageous” and its infringement on India’s northern border is unacceptable as it amounts to a violation of the international order.
The spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said in a tweet on Wednesday that the German envoy’s remarks were “irresponsible” and that the “boundary question” between China and India is a “historical burden left by colonists”.
