India abstains in UN vote over Russia’s referendum and annexations in Ukraine

India on Friday abstained on a draft resolution at the UN Security Council condemning Russia’s “illegal referenda” and annexation of four Ukrainian territories. The resolution failed to get adopted as Russia vetoed it. Of the 15-nation Council, 10 nations voted for the resolution while India, China, Gabon, and Brazil abstained.

The 15-nation UNSC had voted on the draft resolution tabled by the US and Albania. The resolution condemned Russia’s “organisation of illegal so-called referenda in regions within Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders.”

Also read: Putin illegally annexes Ukraine land; Kyiv seeks NATO entry

India for negotiations

While abstaining on the draft resolution, India called for an immediate cessation of violence in Ukraine and emphasised the need to find pathways for a return to the negotiating table, news agency PTI reported.

#IndiainUNSC 🇮🇳

“Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment. The path to #peace requires us to keep all channels of diplomacy open..”@MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @IndiainUkraine pic.twitter.com/2mO54MkhcX

— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) September 30, 2022

The resolution also declared that Russia’s “unlawful actions” with regards to the “illegal so-called referenda” taken between September 23 and 27 this year in parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya that are under Russia’s temporary control can have “no validity” and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions of Ukraine, including any “purported annexation” of any of these regions by Moscow.

Stating that India was deeply disturbed by the recent turn of developments in Ukraine, India’s permanent representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said that New Delhi has always advocated that no solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives.

“We urge that all efforts are made by concerned sides for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities. Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment,” she was quoted as saying by PTI.

‘Diplomatic channels be open’

“The path to peace requires us to keep all channels of diplomacy open,” she said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “unequivocally conveyed” this in his discussions with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

She also referred to statements made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Ukraine during the high-level General Assembly session last week.

Reiterating Modi’s recent remarks to Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war”, Kamboj said New Delhi sincerely hopes for an early resumption of peace talks to bring about an immediate ceasefire and resolution of the conflict.

Asserting that India’s position has been clear and consistent from the very beginning of this conflict, she added: “The global order is anchored on the principles of the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all states. Escalation of rhetoric or tension is in no one’s interest.”

India’s first vote against Russia

It may be recalled that India had voted against Russia for the first time on August 24, 2022, during a “procedural vote” at the UNSC on Ukraine, as the 15-member powerful UN body invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address a meeting through a video tele-conference. Before that, India had on multiple occasions, abstained from voting against Russia.

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According to PTI, the latest resolution also called upon all States, international organisations and specialised agencies not to recognise any alteration of the status of Ukraine’s regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson or Zaporizhzhya on the basis of Russia’s “unlawful actions” with regards to the illegal so-called referenda taken on September 23 to 27, and to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as recognising any such altered status.

(With Agency inputs)