America News Desk!!! India has again abstained on a resolution calling for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, which was adopted by more than two-thirds of the votes in the UN General Assembly. Voting on the Ukraine-sponsored resolution took place on Thursday. Also, a roundtable sponsored by the Mission of India was organized to explore the concept of Gandhian Trusteeship for World Peace. Explaining India’s absence, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said that we always seek a solution to the issue through dialogue and diplomacy. The resolution did not mention a negotiated end to the conflict, but called for political efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible.
Will a process that does not involve either side give a credible and meaningful solution?, Kamboj said. “While we note the objectives of today’s resolution, we are constrained to abstain from it given its inherent limitations in reaching our desired goal of achieving lasting peace,” he said. Kamboj referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that this is not the era of war, to which he said, increase of enmity and violence is not in anyone’s interest. Instead, an immediate return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy is the only way forward. There were 141 votes in favor of the motion and 7 votes against it. India was among the 32 countries that abstained from voting. The resolution condemns Russia’s aggression and calls for its immediate withdrawal for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
It also calls for the prosecution of crimes and justice for the victims. Earlier, two amendments sponsored by Russia’s close ally Belarus were voted down to defeat the motion, with only 11 votes for one and 15 for the other. India also stayed away from amendments that sought to remove references to Moscow’s aggression and invasion and to end arms supplies to Ukraine instead of withdrawing from territories it occupied. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Munir Akram raised the issue of Kashmir, claiming that it was a parallel case to Ukraine, which was ignored by the sponsors of the resolution.
India mission counselor Prateek Mathur said it was a provocative statement, which is particularly regrettable and certainly at a time when, after two days of discussions, we all agreed that the conflict should be resolved. To do this, the path of peace may be the only way. Kamboj said that despite member states’ support for diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ efforts to promote a comprehensive peace, reports on the ground suggest that the conflict has escalated on several fronts. The General Assembly adopted the resolution in an emergency session after the Security Council could not vote due to Russia’s veto. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN bluntly asked, hasn’t the UN system, and especially its key organ, the Security Council, become ineffective in addressing the challenges?
Only the five countries that were considered victors of World War II were given veto rights in the Council. Unlike Security Council resolutions, the General Assembly has no enforcement powers and carries only moral influence. Thursday’s resolution was the sixth on Ukraine since the war began on February 24 a year ago and India did not participate in all of them. . Kamboj said India was concerned that the conflict had resulted in the loss of countless lives and rendered lakhs of people, especially women, children and the elderly, homeless and forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries. Economic reports of attacks on civilian infrastructure are also deeply worrying. He said that India, on its part, is helping to deal with its effects in Ukraine and elsewhere. “We are providing humanitarian aid and assistance to Ukraine under economic crisis,” he said.
–IANS
PK/SKP
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