00:00All right, moving on, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has taken a swipe at the UN experts
00:05criticizing India's handling of the anti-CEC protests, questioning their credibility.
00:09Rubio's message was blunt. The UN experts, or is that an oxymoron? He also backed India's
00:17democratic process saying elections take place democratically here and hence he will not comment
00:22on India's domestic political matters. These remarks come against the backdrop of sharp
00:26criticism from UN-appointed experts. On Tuesday, more than 20 independent UN experts urged
00:32Indian authorities to stop the excessive use of force against protesters, decided reports of
00:37unarmed demonstrators being beaten with batons, mass detentions, alleged ill treatment and restrictions
00:43on peaceful assembly, and experts called for an independent investigation into the police response.
00:49They also urged authorities to lift blanket restrictions on gathering and avoid the
00:53misuse of digital surveillance and internet disruptions. India, meanwhile, has pushed back
00:59against the international criticism, arguing that human rights concerns should not be used as a tool
01:04for political pressure or selective targeting.
01:09Pranay Upadhyay joins us for more details on this story. Pranay, these are interesting times of US-India ties.
01:17Sensitive times, if one can really call it that. They're trying to broker a deal which has been in the
01:22works
01:22for several months, if not years now, right? We've been at it for a while.
01:26How are we to see Marco Rubio's comments over here? Is he just warming up to India
01:32by saying all of these things? Or are we to take it with the timing here with a pinch of
01:39salt?
01:40Certainly, diplomacy is all about timing. But I think the agenda or the priority for US Secretary of State
01:47Marco Rubio's India visit is largely to do with the regional diplomacy, energy partnership with India at a time
01:53when the economic pressure is being felt in the United States, when the mid-term elections are coming up
01:58in the United States. And, in fact, you know, Marco Rubio is not only Secretary of State for the United
02:04States,
02:04but he's also lead or point person for the Trump administration on Venezuela affairs.
02:09And, you know, the role and responsibility, what he's looking at for the Jamnagar refinery,
02:16which is the world's largest refinery for the oil refining and the crude oil, remains very important.
02:22And I think that is the reason he indicated in as many words. And that is the reason why he
02:26is visiting
02:27Jamnagar refinery. But having said that, you know, coming to the issue of protests and democracy,
02:33you know, Trump administration is facing all these protests in the United States.
02:36But the larger issue remains that, you know, especially the remarks coming from Marco Rubio
02:44might be disappointing for a section of people, those who were trying to attribute a US plot behind it
02:51or, you know, trying to attribute or trying to attribute that, you know, some plan has been
02:57hatched or some conspiracy has been hatched in the United States to dislodge government here
03:01or to fuel these protests. But he said that, you know, these are the internal matters of India.
03:06United States has nothing to do with it. But having said that, you know, he made a very interesting
03:10comment regarding the, you know, UN expert being an oxymoron, because we have seen,
03:15you know, a dichotomy as far as the US role is concerned, if you see the comparative statement
03:23or the comparative state of UN remarks, you know, UN repertoire's remark regarding the protest in India
03:28and the kind of commentary, you know, regarding the protest in French capital or various other parts
03:36of Europe. So obviously you see the silence as far as the Western protests are concerned,
03:41but they are a particular sensitivity whenever it comes to protest in India.
03:45Right. The Ministry of External Affairs is going to be extremely happy with those remarks at the moment
03:50and let's see if it did work in our favour. Thanks, Rane, for joining us with the very latest on
03:54that.
