India continued to have a neutral position on the Russia-Ukraine war. India along with China, one of Russia’s closest allies since the war broke out, abstained from a resolution calling for peace. India’s position was reflected in its vote at the UN General Assembly this week.
The draft resolution, tabled by Ukraine and its European allies, sought a de-escalation, an early cessation of hostilities, and a peaceful resolution, marking a shift in global diplomatic dynamics.
According to a report, 93 countries, including major European countries like Germany, UK, France and the G7 (minus the US) voted in favour. Eighteen, including Russia, US, Israel and Hungary voted against it. And 65, including India, China and Brazil chose to abstain themselves. Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives voted in favour of the resolution, aligning with the European bloc.
India’s decision to not participate in this vote is in line with its strategy during the three-year conflict. As a nation with strategic connections with both Russia and Western nations, India has remained neutral in the face of growing pressure from international players. This neutrality is evidence of India’s foreign policy approach, which secures its interests first and stays out of the growing East-West conflict over Ukraine. India continues to tread carefully, keeping diplomatic ties with both Russia and the West, despite the shifting dynamics in the US and Europe’s approaches to the conflict.
The report claims that the United States put out its own resolution, The Path to Peace, which lamented the deaths in the conflict but refrained from specifically addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With 73 abstentions and 93 votes in favour of the Ukrainian-backed draft, the US resolution ultimately failed to get support.
Several UNGA resolutions have called for Russia to remove its forces from Ukraine, but the war has not been stopped, according to Ambassador Dorothy Shea, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at the US Mission to the UN, who proposed the American draft resolution.
“It has now dragged on for far too long, and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine, in Russia, and beyond,” she was quoted as saying.
In response to Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is utilising its “inherent right to self-defense,” believed Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa. This goes against the UN Charter’s mandate that nations respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries.
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