{"id":85954,"date":"2026-05-19T09:39:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/85954\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T09:39:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:39:35","slug":"india-pushes-back-against-human-rights-criticism-in-oslo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/85954\/","title":{"rendered":"India Pushes Back Against Human Rights Criticism In Oslo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" class=\"entry-thumb cwvlazyload\" alt=\"India highlighted constitutional safeguards and judicial protections for citizens\" title=\"MEA Official Defends India\u2019s Democracy, Media Landscape In Oslo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MEA-Official-Defends-Indias-Democracy-Media-Landscape-In-Oslo.jpg\"  data-\/>India highlighted constitutional safeguards and judicial protections for citizens \u201cIndia Plays By The Book\u201d: MEA Responds To Human Rights Concerns<\/p>\n<p>New Delhi has strongly pushed back against questions over press freedom and human rights in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit to Norway, with a senior Indian diplomat dismissing reports by certain international groups as the work of \u201cignorant NGOs\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to questions from a Norwegian journalist in Oslo, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West) Sibi George defended India\u2019s democratic credentials, constitutional safeguards and diverse media landscape.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">#WATCH<\/a> | Oslo, Norway | MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George says, \u201c\u2026We are one sixth of the total population of the world, but not one sixth of the problems of the world. We have a constitution which guarantees the fundamental rights of the people. We have equal rights for the\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ulAOOzkA7J\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/ulAOOzkA7J<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ANI (@ANI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ANI\/status\/2056473545853841833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">May 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>India rejects criticism over press freedom<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the media during PM Modi\u2019s visit to Oslo, George asserted that India remains one of the world\u2019s strongest democracies with constitutional guarantees for all citizens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are one-sixth of the total population of the world, but not one-sixth of the problems of the world. We have a constitution which guarantees the fundamental rights of the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>George was replying to questions regarding media freedom, human rights and whether India could be trusted on democratic values.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are proud to be a democracy\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The senior diplomat highlighted India\u2019s legal framework and judicial system, stressing that citizens have the right to seek justice if their rights are violated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have equal rights for the women of our country, which is very important\u2026We believe in equality; we believe in human rights\u2026If anyone whose rights are violated, they have the right to go to court\u2026We are proud to be a democracy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>MEA official slams \u201cignorant NGOs\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Defending India\u2019s media ecosystem, George pointed to the country\u2019s vast number of television channels and multilingual press environment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know how many stories are up here. We have how many breaking news coming every day in the evening. At least 200 TV channels in Delhi alone, in the English language, in the Hindi language and in multiple languages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He argued that many foreign observers fail to understand India\u2019s scale and complexity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey read, you know, one or two news reports published by some godforsaken, ignorant NGOs and then come and ask questions,\u201d George remarked.<\/p>\n<p>India says it \u201cplays by the book\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The diplomat also stressed India\u2019s commitment to rule of law and democratic norms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndia is a country which believes in the rule of law. We have always been following rules wherever they are. We play by the book. That is India\u2019s reputation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Comes after India rejected Dutch PM\u2019s reported remarks<\/p>\n<p>The sharp rebuttal comes a day after India dismissed reported comments by Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten regarding alleged decline in media freedom and minority rights in India.<\/p>\n<p>During PM Modi\u2019s visit to the Netherlands, Indian officials had similarly defended the country\u2019s democratic and pluralistic traditions, saying such concerns reflected a \u201clack of understanding\u201d about India.<\/p>\n<p>For all the latest updates, download <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.bilwg.pgurus&amp;hl=en_IN&amp;amp%20gl=US\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PGurus App<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgurus.com\/author\/newsdesk\/\" class=\"url\" title=\"PGurus Newsdesk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"PGurus Newsdesk\" class=\"avatar avatar-250 photo cwvlazyload\" height=\"250\" width=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pgurus.com\/wp-content\/gravatars\/13fd11ce9cd6af3e7837bae9fbf8e439e9447a6f08c3865fc6b34066ddc8a420\" \/><\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgurus.com\/author\/newsdesk\/\" class=\"url\" title=\"PGurus Newsdesk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"PGurus Newsdesk\" class=\"avatar avatar-250 photo cwvlazyload\" height=\"250\" width=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pgurus.com\/wp-content\/gravatars\/13fd11ce9cd6af3e7837bae9fbf8e439e9447a6f08c3865fc6b34066ddc8a420\" \/><\/a>Latest posts by PGurus Newsdesk (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgurus.com\/author\/newsdesk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">see all<\/a>)   <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India highlighted constitutional safeguards and judicial protections for citizens \u201cIndia Plays By The Book\u201d: MEA Responds To Human&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[85],"tags":[45953,6433,157,156,22778,45724],"class_list":["post-85954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oslo","tag-ministry-of-external-affairs-secretary-west","tag-narendra-modi","tag-norway","tag-oslo","tag-rob-jetten","tag-sibi-george"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116600580921334441","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}