India on Wednesday broke its silence on the situation in Hong Kong and tacitly called upon China to address the concerns the international community expressed over the new National Security Law, which President Xi Jinping’s government in Beijing imposed on the semi-autonomous territory.
Amid India-China military stand-off in eastern Ladakh, New Delhi decided to speak up on Beijing’s move to substantially lower the degree of autonomy Hong Kong enjoyed ever since the United Kingdom transferred it to the communist country in 1997.
“Given the large Indian community that makes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China its home, India has been keeping a close watch on recent developments,” India’s envoy to United Nations offices in Geneva, Rajiv Kumar Chander, said. He was speaking at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
“We have heard several statements expressing concern on the concern on these developments. We hope the relevant parties will take into account these views and address them properly, seriously and objectively,” said Chander.
India earlier by and largely maintained silence on the issue of protests in Hong Kong, obviously to avoid hurting the sensitivities of China.
“Obviously given that we have investments there (in Hong Kong) and we have a community there, we are watching it with great attention,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said in response to a question in a press conference in September 2019
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