The India-European Union (EU) dialogue on human rights was held at a relatively low level in Delhi on June 24. The Indian delegation was led by the officer in charge of the Europe West division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) while the EU ambassador to India headed the EU delegation. Ambassadors are, of course, plenipotentiaries and therefore in traditional diplomatic practice enjoy high status. However, in modern times officials from the home countries are generally sent for such talks. The absence of a Brussels based official as head of the EU delegation therefore sends a signal that whatever the joint statement on the talks may say the EU did not accord the dialogue the priority which it would normally give to talks on human rights. The EU ambassador heading the talks indicated that the EU needed to tick the box that it had held talks on human rights with India.

For India there are far more important matters to discuss with the EU than human rights and therefore if the EU did not give it salience it would not have lost any sweat. This does not mean that human rights are not domestically important for India. The constitution, which is the bedrock of the Indian system, gives human rights the highest importance. It is the solemn duty of any government to ensure that it does not violate the constitutional rights of any Indian citizen. If a citizen or a group of citizens feel........

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