India has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for a sixth term, the country’s permanent mission to the world body in New York announced on Thursday.
India will be a member of the council for three years starting from January 1, 2022.
The country got 184 votes in the 193-member United Nations General Assembly, PTI reported. The required majority to get elected to the council is 97.
India’s mission at the United Nations said the country will continue to work for the promotion and protection of human rights through respect, dialogue and co-operation.
India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti told PTI that he was truly delighted at the “overwhelming support” for the country in the election to the Human Rights Council.
“It’s a robust endorsement of our strong roots in democracy, pluralism and fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution,” he said. “We thank all UN Member States for giving us a strong mandate.”
India was elected to the council for the term from 2019 to 2021 as well, when it won 188 out of 193 votes.
United Nations member countries can have only up to two consecutive terms in the council. India has served two tenures earlier between 2011 and 2017.
Apart from India, 17 countries were elected to the council. These were Benin, Gambia, Cameroon, Somalia and Eritrea from the Africa group; Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from the Asia group; Lithuania and Montenegro from the East European group; Paraguay, Argentina and Honduras from the Latin America and Caribbean group; and Finland, Luxembourg and the United States from the Western nations group.
In June 2018, the United States, during the tenure of former President Donald Trump, had quit the Human Rights Council after accusing it of political bias. On Thursday, the country officially re-joined the council, CNN reported.
United States President Joe Biden said he looks forward to the country “once more being a constructive voice that works to help push the Human Rights Council to live up to its mandate”.
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