India re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council that is based in Geneva for a three-year term. India received support from 185 member nations in the 192-member General Assembly.

The other countries, elected to three-year terms for the UN body, are such as Angola, Bolivia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Italy, Madagascar, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Qatar and South Africa.

After the voting, the US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad congratulated the 14 new members of the Human Rights Council. The Council was created last year by a resolution passed in UN General Assembly.

According to the rule of the council, one-third members retire each year. India, the founder member of the council, was among the countries to retire this year. The Unites State is not a member of this council.

Belarus was defeated by Bosnia-Herzegovina on the vacant Eastern European seats and the defeat of Belarus was described by US ambassador as the ‘last dictatorship in Europe’.

These are the countries already on the Human Rights Council- Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Cuba, Djibouti, France, Gabon, Germany, Guatemala, Ghana, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Zambia.

The Council membership is divided in five regional groups in which 13 seats were given to African states, 13 for Asian states, eight for Latin American, seven for Western European states and six seats for Eastern European states.

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