Russia versus the US: Is a new non-aligned group emerging?

NEW DELHI: Ever since Russia annexed Crimea and invited Western sanctions, the world has swirled with talk of a new Cold War. It’s Russia versus the US again, the West versus the East, at least that’s how the instant pundits of global affairs would have us believe.

On Thursday, Ukraine became the touchstone for 193 countries to declare where their hearts lie. A resolution in the UN General Assembly declaring Russia’s annexation of Crimea to be illegal was put to vote — more countries ended up on the Western side.

But even more significant , a massive 58 countries abstained — that’s the new UN equivalent of staying “non-aligned”. In this club fall three big guys — India, China and Brazil . As part of BRICS, these countries last week declared in a joint statement that they did not want sanctions and counter-sanctions and a political dialogue was the best answer.

But all three countries have strong political and economic ties with the US, unlike Russia. Therefore, walking a thin line, all three countries stayed out of the race.

Interestingly, on the abstention sheet is Israel, US’ closest ally. Israel has been livid with Obama on the nuclear deal with Iran. Iran, which considers the US a “great Satan” also abstained — Russia is Iran’s greatest ally. Maldives, where the US has been trying to set up a military base, voted on the side of the US, something India should think about.

The General Assembly resolution is not binding, but it’s a strong statement from the international community.

India and China have deep reservations on sovereignty and territorial integrity and in the past have not hesitated to slam US for Libya , Syria etc. With Russia doing exactly the same thing, the dilemma in the developing world is acute. A similarly worded resolution died in the UN Security Council because Russia has a veto there.