- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
India was among 35 nations that abstained from a resolution which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) condemning Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions in September end.
A total of 143 members voted in favour of the resolution while five went against it.
The resolution comes a day after Moscow vetoed a similar proposal in the UN Security Council. India abstained from that as well.
The latest resolution, adopted by the members where no one wields a veto, condemns Russia’s “attempted illegal annexations” of the four Ukrainian regions following “so-called referendums”.
The voting took place two days after Ukraine and Russia clashed in the UNGA.
On Monday (10), India vetoed Russia’s call to hold a secret ballot at the UNGA on a draft resolution to condemn the latter’s “attempted illegal annexation” of Ukrainian territories.
After Albania requested an open vote after Russia proposed a secret ballot on the resolution on Ukraine, India favoured a procedural vote called by Albania.
The Albanian proposal received 107 votes in favour, with 13 countries opposed to the vote and 39 abstentions. Twenty-four countries including China, Iran and Russia did not vote.
In September last week, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed the documents to formally announce the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The current week has seen heightened tension between Russia and Ukraine in the wake of the expansion of the strategic Crimea bridge, which prompted missile strikes on major Ukraine cities by Moscow, on Saturday (8). The Kerch Bridge is the sole bridge connecting Russia with the Crimean Peninsula.
Condemning the Russian action, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said he was deeply shocked and represented “another unacceptable escalation” of the war.
The strikes reportedly caused widespread damage to civilian areas and led to dozens of deaths and injuries showed that “as always”, civilians were paying the highest price for Russia’s invasion of February 24.
Putin this week warned of “harsh” reprisals after the Crimea bridge attack on Saturday.
In a televised appearance, Putin said Russia had struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine following the blast on the bridge.
[With ANI inputs]
