Indian envoy to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj on Thursday quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said this era is not of war as India abstained from voting on resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the need to reach comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
“India remains steadfastly committed to multilateralism and upholds the principles of the UN Charter. We will always call for dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable way out,” Kamboj said.
“While we take note of the stated objective of today’s Resolution, given its inherent limitations in reaching our desired goal of securing a lasting peace, we are constrained to abstain,” she further added.
Kamboj referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand in September 2022.
“We have consistently advocated that no solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives. In this context, our Prime Minister’s statement that this cannot be an era of war bears reiteration,” Kamboj said.
“Escalation of hostilities and violence is in no one’s interest, instead, an urgent return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward,’ the envoy further added.
In the United Nations General Assembly, 141 voted in favour of the resolution, 32 abstained, including China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and seven members voted against it.
The UNGA demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin should withdraw the Russian army immediately from Ukraine and appealed to reach a ‘comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine’.
India said its approach to the war in Ukraine remains people-centric.
“India continued to remain concerned over the situation in Ukraine. The conflict has resulted in the loss of countless lives and misery, particularly for women, children, and the elderly, with millions becoming homeless and forced to seek shelter in neighbouring countries,” Kamboj said, while highlighting that India is concerned about the rising number of attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and power grids.
Pakistan Plays Spoilsport
Pakistan, who also abstained from voting on the resolution, played spoilsport by raking up the Kashmir issues during the Eleventh Emergency Special Session (Ukraine), 19th Plenary Meeting on Thursday.
India exercised her right to reply and said Islamabad should look at its track record of sponsoring terrorism. Pratik Mathur, Indian counsellor at the UN, said Pakistan continues to shelter and provide safe havens to terrorists.
“Pakistan has only to look at itself and its track record as a State that harbours and provides safe havens to terrorists and does so with impunity,” Mathur said.
(with inputs from Shalinder Wangu)
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