NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday abstained from voting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the Russia-drafted resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. Only two countries voted in support of the resolution hence it failed to pass in the UNSC.
The draft resolution demanded that “civilians, including humanitarian personnel and persons in vulnerable situations, including women and children are fully protected, calls for negotiated ceasefire for enabling safe, rapid, voluntary and unhindered evacuation of civilians, and underscores the need for the parties concerned to agree on humanitarian pauses to this end.”
India, along with 12 other Council members abstained on the resolution. There were no countries who voted against the resolution.
This is the fifth time that India has abstained on a UN resolution on Ukrainebut this time it is unlike the previous occasions. Here is how it is different:
Russia-drafted resolution
It was a Russia-sponsored resolution in the UN Security Council which made no reference to its invasion of Ukraine. The resolution acknowledged Ukraine’s growing humanitarian needs but didn’t mention the Russian invasion that caused the escalating crisis.
The Russian resolution called upon all parties concerned to allow safe and unhindered passage to destinations outside of Ukraine, including to foreign nationals without discrimination, and facilitate safe and unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to those in need in and around Ukraine, taking into account the particular needs of women, girls, men and boys, older persons and persons with disabilities.
The resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, co-sponsored by Belarus, North Korea and Syria, failed even without a veto as it got only the votes of Russia and China.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the council before the vote that its resolution “is not politicised,” just like other Security Council humanitarian resolutions, and he categorically rejected a US claim that his country had no right to submit such a resolution.
US ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield countered that Russia was “attempting to use this council to provide cover for its brutal actions.” “It really is unconscionable that Russia would have the audacity to put forward a resolution asking the international community to solve a humanitarian crisis that Russia alone created,” said Linda.
India with US & its allies
Deputy permanent representative R Ravindra was in India’s chair at the Council where he raised his hand to record the abstention but did not speak either on the resolution or explain the decision to abstain as India had done before.
Unlike during the past abstentions relating to Ukraine, it is for the first time that India sided with the West, even if only through an abstention.
Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who was in New York and had spoken at the Council on Wednesday on relations with the Arab League, was absent when the Russian resolution was taken up.
India had previously abstained in the Council on two procedural votes related to Ukraine and on a resolution condemning Moscow’s invasion that was vetoed by Russia.
US President Joe Biden on Monday singled out India for its “shaky” response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while claiming allies and partners across Nato and the Pacific were presenting a united front against Moscow.
Meanwhile, India continues to buy Russian oil and other goods, despite pressure from Western countries.
India’s import of crude oil from Russia stood at around an average of nearly 360,000 barrels a day in the first half of this month. As per the current shipment schedules, the average oil trade between the two countries is estimated to be around 203,000 barrels per day.
China’s support on the resolution
Thirteen of the 15 members on the UN Security Council voted against the Russian resolution. China was the only country on the Council to support it.
Explaining his country’s vote in favour of the Russian resolution, Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun said council members should focus on humanitarian issues, “transcend the political differences” and try to reach consensus and “respond to the humanitarian crisis in a positive, pragmatic and constructive manner.” But France’s ambassador, Nicolas De Riviere, called the resolution “a maneuver from Moscow to justify its aggression against Ukraine”.
While Albanian envoy Ferit Hoxha called the resolution “a mountain of hypocrisy”, Mexican ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente said the Russian draft didn’t respond “to the reality on the ground” or to “the pressing needs of the civilian population.”
China, like India, had abstained on the two substantive resolutions on Ukraine.
The Russian defeat came on the same day the General Assembly started considering a resolution drafted by Ukraine and two dozen other countries and co-sponsored by nearly 100 nations which clearly states that Russia’s aggression is responsible for the growing humanitarian emergency.
Russia has denounced the resolution as “anti-Russian” and accuses its supporters of not really being concerned about the humanitarian situation on the ground, saying they want to politicise aid.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24 with explosions heard across the country.
-With agency inputs
The draft resolution demanded that “civilians, including humanitarian personnel and persons in vulnerable situations, including women and children are fully protected, calls for negotiated ceasefire for enabling safe, rapid, voluntary and unhindered evacuation of civilians, and underscores the need for the parties concerned to agree on humanitarian pauses to this end.”
India, along with 12 other Council members abstained on the resolution. There were no countries who voted against the resolution.
This is the fifth time that India has abstained on a UN resolution on Ukrainebut this time it is unlike the previous occasions. Here is how it is different:
Russia-drafted resolution
It was a Russia-sponsored resolution in the UN Security Council which made no reference to its invasion of Ukraine. The resolution acknowledged Ukraine’s growing humanitarian needs but didn’t mention the Russian invasion that caused the escalating crisis.
The Russian resolution called upon all parties concerned to allow safe and unhindered passage to destinations outside of Ukraine, including to foreign nationals without discrimination, and facilitate safe and unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to those in need in and around Ukraine, taking into account the particular needs of women, girls, men and boys, older persons and persons with disabilities.
The resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, co-sponsored by Belarus, North Korea and Syria, failed even without a veto as it got only the votes of Russia and China.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the council before the vote that its resolution “is not politicised,” just like other Security Council humanitarian resolutions, and he categorically rejected a US claim that his country had no right to submit such a resolution.
US ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield countered that Russia was “attempting to use this council to provide cover for its brutal actions.” “It really is unconscionable that Russia would have the audacity to put forward a resolution asking the international community to solve a humanitarian crisis that Russia alone created,” said Linda.
India with US & its allies
Deputy permanent representative R Ravindra was in India’s chair at the Council where he raised his hand to record the abstention but did not speak either on the resolution or explain the decision to abstain as India had done before.
Unlike during the past abstentions relating to Ukraine, it is for the first time that India sided with the West, even if only through an abstention.
Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who was in New York and had spoken at the Council on Wednesday on relations with the Arab League, was absent when the Russian resolution was taken up.
India had previously abstained in the Council on two procedural votes related to Ukraine and on a resolution condemning Moscow’s invasion that was vetoed by Russia.
US President Joe Biden on Monday singled out India for its “shaky” response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while claiming allies and partners across Nato and the Pacific were presenting a united front against Moscow.
Meanwhile, India continues to buy Russian oil and other goods, despite pressure from Western countries.
India’s import of crude oil from Russia stood at around an average of nearly 360,000 barrels a day in the first half of this month. As per the current shipment schedules, the average oil trade between the two countries is estimated to be around 203,000 barrels per day.
China’s support on the resolution
Thirteen of the 15 members on the UN Security Council voted against the Russian resolution. China was the only country on the Council to support it.
Explaining his country’s vote in favour of the Russian resolution, Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun said council members should focus on humanitarian issues, “transcend the political differences” and try to reach consensus and “respond to the humanitarian crisis in a positive, pragmatic and constructive manner.” But France’s ambassador, Nicolas De Riviere, called the resolution “a maneuver from Moscow to justify its aggression against Ukraine”.
While Albanian envoy Ferit Hoxha called the resolution “a mountain of hypocrisy”, Mexican ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente said the Russian draft didn’t respond “to the reality on the ground” or to “the pressing needs of the civilian population.”
China, like India, had abstained on the two substantive resolutions on Ukraine.
The Russian defeat came on the same day the General Assembly started considering a resolution drafted by Ukraine and two dozen other countries and co-sponsored by nearly 100 nations which clearly states that Russia’s aggression is responsible for the growing humanitarian emergency.
Russia has denounced the resolution as “anti-Russian” and accuses its supporters of not really being concerned about the humanitarian situation on the ground, saying they want to politicise aid.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24 with explosions heard across the country.
-With agency inputs