India rebukes Switzerland at UNHRC, calls remarks on minorities 'shallow, ill-informed'

The exchange took place during the General Debate on the oral update by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council’s ongoing 60th Session in Geneva.

Switzerland, which currently holds the UNHRC presidency, urged New Delhi to take stronger action to protect minorities and uphold freedoms of expression and the media.

India’s response

Representing India, Kshitij Tyagi, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, said Switzerland’s remarks misrepresented realities in India.

“We would also like to respond to the surprising, shallow, and ill-informed remarks made by Switzerland, a close friend and partner. 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,” Tyagi said.

He countered that Switzerland should instead 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,” he added.

Parallel clash with Pakistan

India also exercised a Right of Reply to Pakistan, after Islamabad’s delegate raised allegations against New Delhi during the same debate.

Tyagi accused Pakistan of misusing the Council for political propaganda and sponsoring 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,” he said.

India pointed to several major terrorist attacks linked to groups based in Pakistan including Pulwama, Uri, Pathankot, Mumbai, and the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, which Tyagi said had turned “a meadow of joy into a killing field.”

He also reminded the Council of Pakistan’s role in sheltering Osama bin Laden until he died in Abbottabad, tying Islamabad’s record to global memories of terrorism, particularly the 9/11 attacks.

Diplomatic stakes

The exchanges highlight India’s growing assertiveness in pushing back against critical narratives at multilateral forums. Switzerland’s comments carried added weight given its current presidency of the UNHRC, but New Delhi framed the remarks as unfounded and contrasted them with India’s democratic record.

At the same time, the barbed exchange with Pakistan followed a familiar pattern, with India reiterating that Islamabad’s focus on human rights masks its own role in fostering extremism.