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If India has chosen any side, it's that of peace: Envoy on abstention at UNGA
Explaining India’s stand on the abstention, Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti said it was done for reasons of both substance and process.
India on Thursday said that if it had chosen any side since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, it was the side of peace and for the need to end violence. India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly on a vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, was suspended from the global rights body over its actions in Ukraine.
The 193-member UN General Assembly voted to adopt a draft resolution moved by the United States to suspend Russia from the UNHRC. The draft received 93 votes in its favour, 24 against it and 58 abstentions. This was the first time that a permanent member of the UN Security Council had its membership revoked from any organ of the world body.
Explaining India’s stand on the abstention, Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti said it was done for reasons of both substance and process.
“Since the inception of the Ukrainian conflict, India has stood for peace, dialogue and diplomacy. We believe that no solution can be arrived at by shedding blood and at the cost of innocent lives. If India has chosen any side, it is the side of peace and it is for an immediate end to violence,” he said.
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Tirumurti said the impact of the crisis had been felt beyond the region with increasing food and energy costs, especially for many developing countries.
India had so far maintained a neutral stance on Russia at the United Nations ever since Msocow’s aggression began in Ukraine, while calling for an end to war and return to talks.
Since January this year, India abstained on at least eight occasions on procedural votes and draft resolutions in the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council that condemned Russian aggression against its pro-Western neighbour.
On Tuesday, New Delhi condemned the “deeply disturbing” reports of civilian killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha and supported the call for an independent investigation, as it underlined that when innocent human lives are at stake, diplomacy must prevail as the only viable option.
Tirumurti said India continued to remain deeply concerned at the worsening situation and reiterates its call for an end to all hostilities. “When innocent human lives are at stake, diplomacy must prevail as the only viable option,” he said.
“We have unequivocally condemned these killings and support the call for an independent investigation,” he said.
Tirumurti said that “it is in our collective interest to work constructively, both inside the United Nations and outside, towards seeking an early resolution to the conflict”.
“India has been at the forefront of protecting human rights, right from the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We firmly believe that all decisions should be taken fully respecting due process, as all our democratic polity and structures enjoin us to do. This applies to international organisations as well, particularly the United Nations."
The draft resolution, titled ‘Suspension of the rights of membership of the Russian Federation in the Human Rights Council’, expressed “grave concern” at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, particularly at the reports of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law by Russia, including gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights.
(With inputs from agencies)
