India on Friday won the seat to UN Human Rights Council after getting 188 votes in the Asia Pacific category. India has been appointed for a period of three years from 2019 to 2022. India reportedly got highest number of votes among all the other candidate nations.

India was vying for the seat in the Asia-Pacific category. Along with India, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and the Philippines also staked a claim in the same regional group.

The new members will serve a term of three years beginning January 1, 2019. India had previously been elected to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for the 2011-2014 and 2014-2017 terms. Its last tenure had ended on December 31, 2017 and in accordance with the rules, it was not eligible for immediate re-election since it had already served two consecutive terms.

On the basis of equitable geographical distribution, council seats are allocated to the five regional groups as follows: African States, 13 seats; Asia-Pacific States, 13 seats; Eastern European States, 6 seats; Latin American and Caribbean States, 8 seats; and Western European and other States, 7 seats.