India slams UN Special Rapporteur for his criticism of holding G20 meet in Kashmir

India has strongly rejected UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes’ statement objecting to holding a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir alleging human rights violations there and termed his remarks “baseless and unwarranted”.

Permanent Mission of India in Geneva further attacked him for acting “irresponsibly to politicise this issue”.

Also, it asserted that India as G20 president has the prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country.

Srinagar will be hosting the G20 meeting of the working group on tourism from May 22 to May 24.

In his statement, Fernand de Varennes alleged that holding a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir while “massive human rights violations are ongoing is lending support to attempts by India to normalise the brutal and repressive denial of democratic and other rights of Kashmiri Muslims and minorities”.

Holding a #g20 meeting in #jammuandkashmir while massive #humanrights violations are ongoing is lending support to attemps by #India to normalize the brutal & repressive denial of democratic & other rights of #kashmiri #Muslims and #minorities. pic.twitter.com/fjLSjovfKX

— Former UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (@fernanddev) May 15, 2023

Slamming the statement, India’s permanent mission in Geneva tweeted,“We @IndiaUNGeneva strongly reject the statement issued by SR on minority issues @fernanddev and the baseless and unwarranted allegations in it. As G20 president, it’s India’s prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country.”

“We are aghast that @fernanddev has acted irresponsibly to politicize this issue, misused his position as SR to publicize on social media his presumptive and prejudiced conclusions in a gross violation of the Code of Conduct for SRs,” the Indian mission said.

We @IndiaUNGeneva strongly reject the statement issued by SR on minority issues @fernanddev & the baseless & unwarranted allegations in it. As G20 President, it’s India’s prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country. (1/2)@UNHumanRights @volker_turk @MEAIndia

— India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) May 16, 2023

The UN Special Rapporteur also alleged that the government is “seeking to normalise what some have described as a military occupation by instrumentalising a G20 meeting and portray an international ‘seal of approval’, despite what Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told the UN Human Rights Council a few weeks ago was a worrying human rights situation in the Kashmir region”.

(With inputs from PTI)

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