India has abstained from voting on a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the need to reach comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine.
In ‘historic voting,’ at the UNGA on Thursday, countries condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The assembly demanded Moscow to withdraw from Kyiv “immediately,” with an appeal for the need to reach comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine.
In the assembly, 141 voted in favor of the resolution, 32 abstained, including China and India, and seven voted against it. India’s permanent representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj, reiterated India’s position in the Russia-Ukraine war and said that dialogue and diplomacy are the only viable ways out.
“India remains steadfastly committed to multilateralism and upholds the principles of the UN Charter. We will always call for dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable way out. While we take note of the stated objective of today’s resolution, given its inherent limitations in reaching our desired goal of securing a lasting peace, we are constrained to abstain.”
India’s ambassador also quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement: “We have consistently advocated that no solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives. In this context, our Prime Minister’s statement that this cannot be an era of war bears reiteration. Escalation of hostilities and violence is in no one’s interest; instead, an urgent return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward.”
She also said that international principles and jurisprudence vest responsibility on parties to the conflict to ensure that civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targeted in situations of armed conflict. Kamboj stated that India’s approach to the Ukraine conflict would continue to be people-centric. India is providing both humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.