EU-India Summit: Time to Stop Silencing Dissent in India amid the Covid-19 Pandemic

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Mr Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice-President of the European Commission

Dear High Representative Borrell,

Ahead of the European Union (EU)-India summit on 8 May, Amnesty International is writing to express our grave concerns about the right to health and life in India, as well as the Indian government’s silencing of dissent even as the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the country. The current wave of infections in India, and the shortages of COVID-19 treatments, including oxygen and vaccines – along with the silencing of critics of India’s pandemic response – are all heart-breaking indications why human rights must be at the centre of exchanges at the EU-India summit.  At this crucial moment, the EU and its member states must robustly engage with their Indian counterparts and ensure concrete human rights deliverables as an outcome of the summit.