A/HRC/WG.6/1/IND/4 page 8 30. Mauritius commended India for its long democratic tradition which pervades all sections of the population down to the grassroots level in the Panchayats. It encouraged India to share with the international community its best practices in the promotion and protection of human rights taking into account the multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic nature of the Indian society. 31. The Russian Federation stated that India is a democratic State, which over the last 60 years has demonstrated its commitment to the goals and ideals of democracy. It understood that not all problems have been resolved and that questions remained regarding the situation of vulnerable groups in India’s population. It was impressed by the efforts of the Government to improve the human rights situation, including to eliminate discrimination and poverty, and to protect the rights of women and children. The delegation noted the support of India for the United Nations human rights mechanisms and its support for the work of OHCHR, including annual financial contributions. It stated that the Indian report reveals that one the key elements is the national human rights institution, and thanked the Indian delegation for its explanations regarding the work on independent investigations of complaints against human rights violations. The Russian Federation expressed the view that India’s experience was innovative as regards ensuring transparency in the work of the Government at every level and requested India to provide information on the scope and results of the 2005 law on the Right to Information. 32. Malaysia congratulated India on putting in place an institutional, legislative and administrative framework aimed at improving the human rights situation of its people. It also noted the establishment of various institutions/national commissions which act as “watch dogs”, dealing with issues such as women rights, minorities, scheduled castes and tribes, backward classes and children rights. Additional information was requested on the implementation of their recommendations. 33. China noted with appreciation that India has a well established national system to guarantee human rights and also stated that it fully understood the pluralistic, multifaceted and multicultural nature of Indian society as well as appreciating the special protection measures taken to protect the rights of minorities and other vulnerable groups. China stated that with these measures India has not only achieved great progress in the field of human rights but has also accumulated a rich experience to be shared with other countries. As a developing country, China stated that it is faced with many similar challenges and that for this reason it would like to exchange views and experiences with India on the following issues. China noted that India has already taken many positive measures to guarantee the rights of women and children and asked whether women participated in the formulation of those measures and how India intended to increase women’s participation in decision-making. With respect to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and its present achievements, China asked how India intended to further implement this programme. 34. Cuba welcomed the exhaustive national report and commended India for the impressive work carried out in promoting and protecting both civil and political rights as well as social, economic and cultural rights and the right to development. Cuba stated that it had no question or recommendation but rather it came here to listen and learn from India. 35. Singapore congratulated India for its important successes in sustaining a path of high rate of economic growth, which has resulted in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. It stated that, in doing so India has also made great strides in advancing their most basic human rights - the rights to food, housing and health. Singapore asked for complementary information on steps being taken to address caste-based discrimination.