India abstains from vote on UNHRC’s Ukraine resolution

New Delhi, April 5

India on Tuesday abstained from vote on a resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that extended the mandate of the investigation into alleged war crimes by Russia during the ongoing Ukraine war.

India usually abstains from all human rights resolutions at the UNHRC as it apprehends that “investigations” are a western ploy to enter the conflict area and impose solutions according to its interests, as was the case in Kosovo. India consistently denies UNHRC Commissioners access to J&K on this premise.

This has led India to abstain from human rights resolutions related to the situation in Belarus, Iran, Syria and South Sudan.

This is the fourth time that the UNHRC has sought a vote on the Russia-Ukraine war and India has abstained from voting in all of them.

Other countries that abstained were all Third World nations, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Algeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Bolivia, Honduras, Sudan and Senegal. The resolution was sponsored by Ukraine and the West, and was passed with 28 out of the 47 council members voting in favour. Two countries, China and Eritrea, voted against it, while 17 others abstained.

In contrast, the entire West voted for the resolution. This divide was also manifested in the voting on the human rights situation in Israel-occupied Palestinian territory. India, China and most developing countries voted for the resolution, while the US and the UK voted against the resolution demanding that Israel should immediately stop all settlement-related plans in the Golan.

The reason

India usually abstains from all human rights resolutions at the UNHRC as it apprehends that “investigations” are a western ploy to enter the conflict area and impose solutions according to its interests, as was the case in Kosovo. India consistently denies UNHRC Commissioners access to J&K on this premise.