Statement by India at Virtual joint briefing with representatives of the UNOG, President of the HRC and the Secretariat of the HRC, delivered by

Ambassador Rajiv K. Chander, Permanent Representative of India

[27 May 2020, Geneva]

Madam President,

We thank you, Amb Zellweger, the Secretariat and UNOG for this joint briefing to update us on steps undertaken in the past few weeks seeking to adapt the UN premises for meetings given the extraordinary situation due to COVID-19. India aligns itself with the LMG statement.

2 The primary focus of our governments in these difficult times is to ensure that precious lives, particularly of the most vulnerable, are not lost to COVID 19. While in some parts of the globe the first wave of infections may be peaking in others the peak is expected in the coming weeks.

3. A few days back we had a successful virtual, but hugely truncated 2-day instead of the usual 10-day, meeting of the WHA with an abridged agenda largely focused on COVID-19. We all agreed in the WHO to hold a resumed session later in the year. Other international organizations in Geneva have either cancelled the June meetings of their governing bodies or rescheduled them.

4. Given the decisions that we have all collectively just taken regarding the postponement of these meetings, the rationale for making an exception for an in-person HRC session of double the duration in the same month is not clear. To hold a 20 day meeting attended broadly by the same set of persons from 9 to 6 daily appears to be fraught with risks. Given the 10-14 day time period for symptoms to manifest, we could be returning home each evening to our families and putting them at risk. We, therefore, also have serious concerns about the ramifications for safety and health of all beyond the confines of the meeting rooms.

5. Further, the issues discussed by the HRC are cross cutting in nature and involve several Ministries back home besides the Foreign Ministry. At this moment of time they are too preoccupied with the extraordinary national efforts required to fight the pandemic.

6. Moreover, given the prevailing international travel restrictions in place, delegates from our capital are not in a position to join us in Geneva. I presume this would be true for many other delegations. This would put some delegations in particular the smaller Missions in an unfair situation given the indications that intra-regional travel by air, rail and road may be a reality in this part of the world.

Madam President,

7. Therefore, my delegation is of the firm view that this is not the right time to resume in-person meetings of the HRC. All Member States need to thoroughly deliberate on these aspects before any decision is taken on this issue by consensus. We would continue to engage with all concerned on how HRC could resume its meetings taking into account the safety and health of all our colleagues.

Thank you, Madam President.

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