Disregarding Moscow's warning, India joined 57 other countries to abstain from voting at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a resolution that sought to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. The resolution was adopted, revoking Russia’s membership, with 93 countries voting in favour and 24 against.
Russia became the first P5 and the only country apart from Libya in 2011 to be suspended from the 47-member top human rights body. Though this was not the first time India had sought to wriggle out of a difficult situation over Ukraine by not taking sides, its abstention this time worked in favour of the US and other Western countries that wanted to expel Russia for alleged violations in Ukraine. Russia had warned UNGA member-states that an abstention will be seen as an unfriendly gesture and also hurt bilateral ties.
India’s permanent representative to the UN, T S Tirumurti, however, said India decided to abstain for reasons of both “substance and process”, while calling upon the UN to ensure all decisions are taken fully respecting due process. India’s explanation of the vote came after the voting. The resolution needed the support of only two-thirds of countries present and voting. Abstentions didn’t count. India has so far abstained from all 10 votes in the UN on Ukraine. China voted against the resolution to suspend Russia.
“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 UN,” said Tirumurti, as he recalled India’s unequivocal condemnation of civilian killings in Bucha and its support for an independent probe into the killings. The ambassador reiterated India’s position that it stands for peace, dialogue and diplomacy.
