India abstains at UNSC again

New Delhi: India along with 13 other members abstained from a Russia-sponsored humanitarian resolution in the UN Security Council (UNSC) on the Ukraine situation, but unlike the US, the UK and other Western nations, New Delhi refrained from delivering either an Explanation of Vote (EoV) or a statement to 'name and shame' Moscow.

India was the only country in the 15-member UNSC that did not offer a statement on the resolution. In the past one month, India has abstained from all resolutions in the UN on Russia and Ukraine.

In her EoV, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, told the UNSC that "Russia is the aggressor, the attacker, the invader, the sole party in Ukraine, engaged in a campaign of brutality against the people of Ukraine. And they want us to pass a resolution that does not acknowledge their culpability."


She went on to add that "it really is unconscionable that Russia would have the audacity to put forward a resolution asking the international community to solve a humanitarian crisis that Russia alone created".

Barbara Woodward, Britain's UN Ambassador, told the council after the vote that "if Russia cared about the humanitarian situation, it would stop bombing children and end their siege tactics. But they haven't".

China was the only country to support Russia by voting in favour of the resolution, stating the UNSC should play its role in the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, pointed to Beijing's six-point initiative and told the Security Council members that the vote in favour was a call to the international community to prioritise the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

The Russian Resolution, which made no reference to its invasion of Ukraine, called upon all parties concerned to allow safe and unhindered passage to destinations outside of Ukraine, including to foreign nationals without discrimination, and facilitate safe and unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to those in need in and around Ukraine, taking into account the particular needs of women, girls, men and boys, older persons and persons with disabilities.