India will continue to engage constructively with UNHCR: MEA

Ahead of the review of its record at the UN Human Rights Council, India said today it would continue to engage constructively with the council and other countries to promote and protect human rights.
The 27th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group is being held from May 1-12th at the UNHCR in Geneva, where India's national report for the UPR-III shall be reviewed on May 4, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi, is leading the Indian delegation that comprises secretary (West) Ruchi Ghanashyam, Additional Solicitor General of India P S Patwalia and senior officials from the MEA, Home, Women and Child Development, Social Justice and Empowerment, Minority Affairs, Rural Development ministries and the NITI Aayog.

"India would continue to engage constructively with the UN Human Rights Council and other countries of the world to both promote and protect human rights and to ensure that the national efforts in this regard continue to retain their primacy in the global discussion on this issue," the ministry said.
When asked about the government's position and if it was divergent from NHRC, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said he was not aware of the India's stance but asserted that NHRC was one of the strongest human rights body in the world and added vibrancy to country's democratic system.

The national report of India covers areas that were part of the recommendations accepted following the UPR-II in 2012.
The report also covers areas that India wishes to share with member countries as part of the peer review mechanism and in a spirit of cooperative engagement and collaboration that has marked our approach to the issue of human rights, the Ministry statement added.