India Abstains from Procedural Vote at UNSC ahead of discussion on Ukraine

UNSC United Nations Security Council Law Insider

Mitali Palnitkar

Published On: February 01, 2022 at 18:26 IST

On January 31, 2022, India abstained from the Procedural Vote at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) ahead of a meeting on the discussion of the situation at Ukraine Border.

On one hand, 10 of the 15 member States had voted in favour of taking up the issue, namely the United States, United Kingdom, France, United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Albania, Norway, Brazil, Mexico, and Ireland. On the other hand, 2 member states, namely China and Russia voted against it. The UNSC only required nine votes in favour to proceed with the discussion.

The member states who abstained from voting were India, Gabon and Kenya. Hours before the UNSC meet, Reenat Sandhu, Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs met the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia for consultations on UN related issues. India’s representative to the UNSC, TS Tirumurti stated, “We have been closely following the evolving developments relating to Ukraine, including through ongoing high-level security talks between Russia and the United States, as well as under the Normandy format in Paris.”

Mr. Tirumurti also stated that India was interested in de-escalation of tensions while taking into account Legitimate Security Interests of all countries. It also aimed at long term Peace and Security. It was of the view that the issue could be resolved through Diplomatic Dialogues.

Russia Accused the United States of creating hysteria over the situation at Ukraine. The President of US, Joe Biden warned Russia that if it walked away from Diplomacy, it will have to face severe consequences.

Biden stated, “If Russia is sincere about addressing our Security Concerns through Dialogue, the US and our allies will continue to engage in good faith. If instead Russia attacks Ukraine, it’ll bear the responsibility and face swift and severe consequences.”

It is reported that Russia amasses around 1 lakh troops near its border with Ukraine. Though Russia denies of having any plans of invading Ukraine, the mobilization of troops along the Border resulted in repeated warnings from NATO member States.

Also read: Conflict between Russia and Ukraine

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