NEW YORK – Indian and China were 32 member states who abstained from voting in the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution demanding immediate withdrawal of Russian military from Ukraine.
During the vote in the 193-member UNGA on the resolution tabled by Ukraine and its supporters, 141 member nations voted in favour, seven against and adopted by the assembly. Pakistan also remained abstained from the voting.
India did not change its position on the invasion as it has decades-old ties with Russia that is also New Delhi’s largest arms supplier.
India’s permanent representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj defended her move to abstain from the voting by stating, “India remains steadfastly committed to multilateralism and upholds the principles of the UN Charter. We will always call for dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable way out. While we take note of the stated objective of today’s Resolution, given its inherent limitations in reaching our desired goal of securing a lasting peace, we are constrained to abstain”.
Excerpts from PR @ruchirakamboj’s explanation of vote at the #UNGA Emergency Special Session on #Ukraine today. pic.twitter.com/tUptpHj09j
— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) February 24, 2023
Quoting her PM’s statement, she said, “We have consistently advocated that no solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives. In this context, our Prime Minister’s statement that this cannot be an era of war bears reiteration. Escalation of hostilities and violence is in no one’s interest, instead, an urgent return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward.”
She added that international principles and jurisprudence vest responsibility on parties to the conflict to ensure that civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targeted during the armed conflict.
