At the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Indian diplomat Kshitij Tyagi issued a robust rebuttal to Switzerland after the country urged India to protect minorities and uphold freedom of expression and media rights. Tyagi dismissed Switzerland’s remarks as “surprising, shallow, and ill-informed.”

Speaking at the 5th Meeting of the 60th Session of the UNHRC, Tyagi emphasised Switzerland’s role as the council president, stating, “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.”

He urged Switzerland to turn attention to its own domestic issues, citing “racism, systematic discrimination and xenophobia” as concerns needing urgent address.

“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,” Tyagi added.

India Strongly Criticises Pakistan As Failed State

Tyagi also sharply condemned Pakistan during his speech, describing Islamabad as a “dump truck” full of recycled falsehoods and branding it a failed state “surviving on instability and handouts.”

“Our measured and proportionate response to the Pahalgam attack made that sufficiently clear. We need no lessons from a terror sponsor, no sermons from a persecutor of minorities, no advice from a state that has conjured its own credibility. India will continue to protect its citizens with unwavering resolve. We will defend our sovereignty without compromise,” he asserted.

This is not Tyagi’s first hard-hitting critique of Pakistan at the UN. In February, during the 58th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, he labelled Pakistan a “failed state” dependent on “international handouts.” At that time, he accused Pakistan’s leaders and delegates of persistently spreading falsehoods orchestrated by its “military terrorist complex,” dismissing Islamabad’s claims on Jammu and Kashmir as “baseless and malicious.”