US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Addresses Protests in India
Marco Rubio's Remarks on UN Experts and Domestic Protests
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pays tribute to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks, in Mumbai. (Photo:@airnewsalerts/X)
New Delhi, Oct 21: During his visit to India, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to United Nations “experts” as an “oxymoron” and chose not to comment on the protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and other opposition groups, labeling them as matters of Indian domestic politics.
While addressing the media in Mumbai on the second day of his three-day trip, Rubio responded to inquiries regarding the UN experts' comments on the CJP protests and the actions taken by law enforcement.
“Oh, UN experts, my favorite. The UN experts are the oxymoron,” he remarked, emphasizing that the United States would refrain from commenting on India's internal political issues.
“This is a domestic political matter. I will not comment on it. India is a democracy with elections. We have protests every day in the US,” Rubio stated before departing for Jamnagar in Gujarat.
His comments followed India's rebuttal to criticism from over 20 UN human rights experts regarding the police's handling of youth-led protests in Delhi and other regions.
At the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee, Barkha Tamrakar, a Deputy Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry’s UN Economic Social Division, accused certain international entities of selectively raising human rights issues to apply political pressure on nations.
While reaffirming India's commitment to engaging with international human rights organizations, Tamrakar asserted that New Delhi opposes the manipulation of human rights for political gain through unverified claims.
“Human rights should not be wielded as a tool for political pressure or selective targeting of countries,” she stated.
On October 17, India dismissed as “hearsay” a report from a UN human rights expert that referenced the “satirical political movement” initiated by the youth in the country, urging the expert to verify allegations before making them public.
Rubio's visit aims to strengthen India-US relations in areas such as energy, trade, investment, defense, and critical technologies, while also discussing the ongoing crisis in West Asia.
Upon his arrival in Mumbai on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar welcomed him for extensive discussions on bilateral cooperation.
On Wednesday morning, Rubio met with Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, and N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons.
He then proceeded to Jamnagar to tour Reliance Industries’ oil-refining facility, recognized as the largest single-site refinery globally, along with Vantara and giga factories being developed by the conglomerate.
Details of the meetings were not disclosed by either party.