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'Persuading India to vote against Russia's aggression but...': US diplomat
India once again abstained on the UNGA resolution that deplored Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Indian Ambassador to the UN TS Tirumurti said that India has been deeply concerned over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Ukraine and the resultant humanitarian crisis.
The United States has been working towards persuading India to vote with other countries in the United National General Assembly against Russia's aggression on Ukraine but those attempts have failed so far as "we have seen a number of abstentions", top US diplomat Donald Lu said speaking to the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after India abstained from a vote on the United Nations General Assembly resolution on Wednesday, the third time in a week.
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"Let me say that all of us have been working to urge India to take clear position, a position opposed to Russia's actions. But what have we seen so far? We have seen a number of abstentions," assistant state secretary Lu said.
"We have seen an interesting evolution in past couple of days. India at UN called for all states to abide by UN Charter to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states; a very clear reference to Russia's violation of UN Charter and Ukraine's sovereignty," Lu added.
Senior state department officials are conducting high-level dialogue with Indian counterparts over Ukraine, Lu said.
"India has focused on two things when trying to explain its position, one that it continues to want to leave on the table the possibility of a diplomatic resolution of this conflict. The second thing that they emphasize is India has 18,000 students still in Ukraine, and they are trying to work with both the Governments of Ukraine and Russia to safeguard those," Lu said.
"So you may have seen yesterday, the Indian government said it would send an airlift of humanitarian supplies from India to Ukraine. That's important. That's a request that's coming from Ukraine's leadership. Second, it said in a UN session that it called for all states to abide by the UN Charter to respect the sovereignty and territory, the territorial integrity of other states. That wasn't criticism of Russia, but a very clear reference to Russia's violation of the UN Charter and violation of Ukraine's sovereignty," Lu explained.
India on Wednesday abstained on a UNGA resolution that deplored Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The 193-member General Assembly Wednesday voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and “deplores in the strongest terms” Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
The resolution was adopted with 141 votes in favour, five Member States voting against and 35 abstentions. The General Assembly broke into an applause as the resolution was adopted. The resolution required a 2/3 majority to be adopted in the General Assembly.
Indian Ambassador to the UN TS Tirumurti said that India has been deeply concerned over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Ukraine and the ensuing humanitarian crisis. "We remain firm in our conviction that differences can only be solved through dialogue and diplomacy," he said, adding that India supported the international community's call for an immediate ceasefire.
(With agency inputs)
