The Indian mission to the UN in Geneva tweeted that “as G20 President, it’s India’s prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country”.
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The government on Tuesday rejected the objection raised by the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues over New Delhi’s decision to hold a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that it was India’s prerogative to host meetings in any part of the country.
The Indian mission to the UN in Geneva tweeted: “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.”
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It added, “We are aghast that @fernanddev has acted irresponsibly to politicise this issue, misused his position as SR to publicise on social media his presumptive and prejudiced conclusions in a gross violation of the Code of Conduct for SRs.”
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Earlier, UN’s Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes tweeted that holding a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, while massive human rights violations were ongoing, was lending support to attempts by India to normalise the denial of democratic and other rights of Kashmiri minorities.
“G20 should on the contrary uphold ‘International human rights obligations & the #UN Declaration of Human Rights should be upheld… and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir should be decried and condemned, not pushed under the rug and ignored with the holding of this meeting’,” he added.
Srinagar will be hosting the G20 meeting of the working group on tourism from 22-24 May.
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