Statement by India at the 27th Session of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee (21 to 25 February, 2023) under Item 3 (e) on ‘Advancement of Racial Justice and Equality’ delivered by Mr. S. Senthil Kumar, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India, Geneva, 20 February 2023

Thank you, Madam Chair,

We welcome the study by the Advisory Committee on ‘Advancement of Racial Justice and Equality’, pursuant to mandate of HRC resolution 48/18.

2. India is a multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society based on equality and tolerance. As a country that was under colonial rule for nearly two centuries, India is painfully aware of the detrimental impact of racism and racial discrimination on the society.

Madam Chair,

3. We firmly believe that the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) continues to provide a comprehensive framework for combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in their contemporary manifestations.

Madam Chair,

4. In the draft Report of the Committee, we observe that at paras. 18 and 26, there are references to ‘caste’, which in our view is not related to racism agenda that Advisory Committee is mandated to examine and as such bringing this issue under the mandate would be counter-productive. Moreover, these references have been quoted selectively and without any proper source. Therefore, we suggest deleting these references from the draft report.

5. In conclusion, we express our firm support to the work of the Advisory Committee and look forward to benefit from its study on Advancement of Racial Justice and Equality.

I thank you Madam Chair.

****