Ukraine at UNSC: For the 1st time, India votes ‘against’ Russia
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: For the first time, India on Wednesday voted ‘against’ Russia in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the Ukraine issue, although on a procedural matter and apparently as a minor balancing act.
In doing so, New Delhi broke its streak of abstentions on UN votes related to Ukraine. India voted for a procedural matter that Russia opposed at the UNSC.
Viewed by some as a move ‘against’ Moscow’s stance, India joined 12 other members of the Council to vote for inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address the UNSC via a remote video link.
As in the past, China abstained from the vote, while Russia voted against the invitation, but because it was a procedural matter, it did not count as a veto, the media reported.
When the meeting began, Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nbenzia, objecting to Zelensky’s video link arrangement, demanded he should come to the Council chamber and ask for the vote, which ended up showing Moscow’s isolation.
Although this was the first time India had not abstained on a Ukraine-related matter and voted with the West, diplomats played down its significance.
The Wednesday vote differed from the issues India had abstained on, which were more substantial.
“It was (only) for or against Zelensky’s participation,” in the meeting through a video link, a diplomat said.
Speaking at the meeting, India’s Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj stuck to New Delhi’s distinctive neutrality in the Ukraine conflict.
The Wednesday meeting marked six months of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the latter’s Independence Day (August 24).
Speaking by video link after the vote, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the world’s security depended on how Russia’s invasion is handled.
“It is on the territory of Ukraine that the world’s future will be decided,” Zelensky said. “Our independence is your security.”
Kamboj did not name Russia as she spoke of the war’s toll on Ukraine and its impact on the rest of the world.
Nor did she offer overt support for Kyiv while listing the humanitarian help India has rendered Ukraine.
“The conflict has resulted in the loss of lives and countless miseries for its peoples, particularly for women, children, and elderly, with millions becoming homeless and forced to take shelter in neighboring countries,” she said, calling for an immediate end to the violence.
“We encourage talks between Ukraine and Russia (and) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to them more than once.”
Modi has spoken to Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, asking them to hold talks for a peaceful resolution of the war.
Nbenzia blamed what he called Ukraine’s senseless “crusade” for the conflict and claimed that Russia launched the “special operation” because of ‘threats’ from it.
