NEW DELHI — Sex between two men is “completely unnatural,” India’s health minister told rural leaders during a conference this week about H.I.V. and AIDS, drawing outrage from gay rights activists and health care professionals.

“Unfortunately, there is this disease in the world and in this country where men are having sex with other men, which is completely unnatural and shouldn’t happen, but it does,” Ghulam Nabi Azad, the minister for health and family welfare said on late Monday in Delhi.

He spoke at a two-day meeting between leaders from rural communities and groups fighting AIDS. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress Party president, Sonia Gandhi, also spoke. About 2.5 million people in India are infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The disease is predominantly spread here by unprotected heterosexual sex, according to international health groups.

“In our country the numbers of men having sex with men are substantial, but it is very difficult to find them,” Mr. Azad said. His remarks, part of a speech made in a mixture of Hindi and English, were videotaped and widely distributed by Indian and international media on Tuesday, sparking an outpouring of criticism.