Welcome Remarks during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India in the 41^st session of the UPR Working Group (7-18 November 2022) delivered by Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey, Permanent Representative of India [Geneva, 10^th November 2022]

Mr. President,

Members of the Troika,

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

Good afternoon,

Namaskar,

It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you to the fourth review of India under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the Human Rights Council.

2. As you are aware, India as a member of the Council, has endeavoured to engage in constructive dialogue with other Member States and Observers as well as various other mechanisms of the Council. We have contributed in building consensus on various divergent issues on the Agenda of the Council. We have worked with the Member States in collaborative spirit with a view to realise the shared goal of global promotion and protection of human rights.

3. As a member of the Council, India’s commitment to the UPR process has been steadfast. We support it as an effective mechanism of the Council and we have been keenly participating in the UPR of various fellow Member States. We are, therefore, pleased that 130 Member States have registered to participate in our UPR and we welcome their participation. We appreciate that a number of Member States have also shared in advance their observations and questions.

4. We believe that our 4th UPR provides us a unique opportunity to present to the Member States the various steps and initiatives taken by India for promotion and protection of human rights of our people. We have outlined them in detail in our National Report and we will present them briefly today. We welcome this valuable opportunity that we have today to listen to the observations, assessments and recommendations of the Member States, which will guide us in future in taking further steps for fulfilling human rights obligations.

5. I would now like to briefly introduce India’s delegation. Headed by the Learned Solicitor General of India, Mr. Tushar Mehta. The delegation comprises of Vice Minister in Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Sanjay Verma, and senior representatives from not only the Ministry of External Affairs but also other Ministries of Government of India such as Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of Women and Child Development; Ministry of Minority Affairs; Department for Social Justice and Empowerment; Department for Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities; Ministry of Rural Development, as well as the Niti Aayog, the National Institution for Transforming India.

6. I now hand over the floor to the leader of our delegation, Learned Solicitor General of India, Mr. Tushar Mehta, for his opening remarks.

I thank you.