Ukraine Conflict: India Walks a Tightrope
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
Russia’s membership to the Human Rights Council (HRC), was suspended Thursday after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted, 93 to 24, with 58 abstentions.
In what analysts say was New Delhi’s sharpest message to Moscow so far, India absented at the United Nations General Assembly on the resolution to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. Analysts see it as effectively siding with those who voted “Yes”, essentially the West-led by the US.
More so, when according to a note accessed by Reuters, Russia had warned countries that a Yes vote or abstention will be viewed as an “unfriendly gesture” with consequences for bilateral ties.
“This call was taken at the highest levels in the government for due deliberation and consideration…it was not taken lightly,” a top government source said.
India abstained for reasons of ‘substance and process’
Even in the abstention, writes Shubhajit Roy (Associate Editor & Deputy Chief of National Bureau, Indian Express) “New Delhi walked the tightrope. It questioned the process by which the move to suspend Russia took place given that it happened before the international probe into the massacre. Delhi’s point is that it should have been brought before the Human Rights Council first, and not the UNGA, sources said. This is a signal to the West that due process has not been followed, something that Indian interlocutors can draw Moscow’s attention to.”
“We firmly believe that all decisions should be taken fully respecting due process as all our democratic polity and structures enjoin us to do so. This applies to international organisations as well, particularly the United Nations,” Tirumurti said during his ‘Explanation of Vote’ speech at the UNGA.
India abstained for reasons of “substance and process”, its Permanent Representative to the U.N. T.S. Tirumurti said.
“If India has chosen any side, it is the side of peace. And it is for an immediate end to violence,” Tirumurti said, calling for diplomacy and reiterating India’s message to the UN Security council earlier this week: that the murder of civilians in the Bucha suburb of Kyiv was “deeply disturbing”.
