India on Wednesday slammed Switzerland's remarks on minorities at the 5th meeting of the 60th session of the Human Rights Council, urging the Swiss to focus on their own issues like racism, systematic discrimination, and xenophobia instead of lecturing India.
Indian diplomat Kshitij Tyagi criticised Switzerland's comments as 'surprising, shallow and ill-informed,' highlighting India as the 'world's largest, most diverse and vibrant democracy' with a strong tradition of pluralism, offering assistance to Switzerland on these matters.
'We would like to respond to the surprising, shallow and ill-informed remarks made by Switzerland, a close friend and partner,' Tyag said.
'As it holds the UNHRC presidency, it is all the more important for Switzerland to avoid wasting the council's time with narratives that are blatantly false and do not do justice to the reality of India.
'Instead, it should focus on its own challenges such as racism, systematic discrimination and xenophobia.
'As the world's largest, most diverse and vibrant democracy, with a civilisational embrace of pluralism, India remains ready to help Switzerland address these concerns,' the Indian diplomat said.
This comes after Switzerland urged India to protect minorities and uphold freedom of expression and the media.
'In India, we call on the government to take effective measures to protect the minorities and uphold the rights to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media,' a Swiss diplomat said on Tuesday.
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