India urges UN rights council to end selectivity, focus on terrorism

India urged the UN Human Rights Council to adopt an even-handed, cooperative approach. The intervention highlighted terrorism, development rights and concerns over selective mandates.Unitednations,Oct 31, 2026 08:22 ISTIndia has said the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council depends on even-handedness, arguing that country-specific mandates pursued without the engagement of the country concerned rarely improve the situation on the ground, Press Trust of India reported.India also called for dialogue, cooperation and equal treatment of all human rights while urging the council to give sustained attention to terrorism, which it described as one of the gravest threats to human rights, particularly the right to life.Bhavika Mangalanandan, First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, made the remarks while addressing a UN General Assembly debate on the Human Rights Council's report on Friday.She recalled External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remarks at the high-level segment of the 61st Human Rights Council in February. He had said, “Human rights are best advanced through dialogue, capacity building and genuine partnerships, and not by politicisation, selectivity, or double standards.” Mangalanandan said this approach was critical for the council to speak in one voice and counter allegations that human rights were being weaponised. India returned to the Human Rights Council this year for its seventh term for the 2026-28 period.“Credibility of the council rests on even-handedness. Country-specific mandates pursued without the engagement of the country concerned seldom improve the situation on the ground,” she said, according to PTI. She added that such mandates instead deepened divisions within the council. She said the Universal Periodic Review, which is based on cooperation and engagement with the member states concerned and treats all countries equally, remained the appropriate platform.India also stressed that terrorism remained among the gravest threats to human rights, especially the right to life. “We would encourage the council to give this threat the sustained attention it warrants on the basis of zero tolerance,” Mangalanandan said.She said all human rights must be treated fairly and equally, with the same emphasis. “Economic, social, and cultural rights and the right to development deserve the same attention as civil and political rights,” she said.Mangalanandan added that poverty, debt and limited access to finance and technology remained the most immediate barriers to the enjoyment of human rights across much of the developing world. “These call for international cooperation and not coercion,” she said.India further said the council must fulfil its mandate with the resources available to it. “Rationalisation should remain member-driven and transparent. It should not fall disproportionately on mandates that address development and economic, social, and cultural rights,” Mangalanandan said.India said the human rights pillar needed adequate and predictable funding through the regular budget to ensure that its priorities were not shaped by voluntary contributions earmarked for specific purposes.“We should consider mechanisms that avoid resolutions and initiatives on the same topic and of similar nature, both in the Council and General Assembly,” she said.Mangalanandan also said, “We see an increasing tendency for the Council to dictate reporting to the Third Committee, including reporting by Special Rapporteurs, which further undermines the need for a specialised Council.” The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.India's intervention called for an even-handed and cooperative approach to human rights, equal attention to economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, sustained focus on terrorism, and transparent use of the council's resources.With PTI Inputs- Ends