India 'proud' to endorse US initiative on Joint Statement on UDHR
Sep 23, 2020
New York [US], September 24 : India on Wednesday (local time) said it is "proud" to endorse the US initiative on the Joint Statement on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which reaffirms fundamental freedoms and rights for all.
"India is proud to endorse the US initiative on the Joint Statement on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Indian mission at United Nations tweeted.
A joint statement, issued by the US, on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) said, "On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, We, the above listed signatories of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, established and adopted in 1948, recommit ourselves today to the Declaration and its foundational ideal that certain principles are so fundamental as to apply to all human beings, everywhere, at all times."
Other nations joining the US on the statement include Bahrain, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, the Maldives, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"We recognise many differences in our cultural, political, legal, religious, and other traditions, yet reaffirm fundamental freedoms and rights for all, and reassert our commitment to honouring the dignity of all persons that is the basis for our commitments under the UDHR," the joint statement said.
The UDHR was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all people and nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.
In a video message, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that authoritarian governments from China to Iran to Venezuela are depriving people of their basic rights.
"We must defend unalienable rights today, because the International Human Rights Project is in crisis. Authoritarian governments from China to Iran to Venezuela are depriving our fellow human beings of their basic rights," he said.
"Even many well-intentioned people assert new and novel rights that often conflict. To uphold universal human rights we should look to the framers of the UDHR, who identified a clear set of principles that apply to all people everywhere, and at all times. They stood unwaveringly in defence of the dignity of every human being."
