India Elected to UNHRC With Highest Votes

India has been elected to United Nation’s apex human rights body with the highest numbers. India’s 3-year term at UNHRC begins Jan.1, 2019.

India was contesting for this seat under Asia-Pacific category, where it was competing with Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and the Philippines. India received a total 188 votes ensuring its win.

A election was held to elect 18 new members for United Nation’s Human Rights Council. A total of 193 members of UN General Assembly (UNGA) participated in the secret ballot. For getting elected to the UNHRC, a minimum 97 votes were required for a country, reported PTI.

A happy Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted saying, “I am happy to inform that India has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council with highest number of votes. We have secured 188 votes out of 193.”

I am happy to inform that India has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council with highest number of votes. We have secured 188 votes out of 193.

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 13, 2018

Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN took to twitter for sharing this news and thanked the people at UN for their support.

Voting for a Happy Outcome.

Thanks to the support of all our friends @UN , India wins seat to Human Rights Council with highest votes among all candidates.🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/zhpJAZEs7C

— Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) October 12, 2018

The other nations elected to UNHRC for 2019-21 are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eritrea, Togo, Somalia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji, Philippines, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Argentina, Bahamas, Uruguay, Austria, Denmark, Italy.

UNHRC is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system. Promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and addressing the situations of human rights violations are among its key responsibilities. It consists of 47 United Nations Member States, which are elected by the UN General Assembly.

Description- India contested for this seat under Asia-Pacific category, where it was competing with Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and Philippines. India received a total 188 votes in this category.