India appeared to take one further step towards denouncing Russia’s actions in Ukraine by joining 12 other countries in abstaining on a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution introduced by Russia on the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn eastern European nation. Though Russia and China voted in favour of the resolution, it failed to get the required nine votes to be passed in the Council.
The resolution was introduced to the 15-member UNSC by Russia, which is a permanent member and holds veto power in the Council; it was co-sponsored by Belarus, North Korea, and Syria. The draft resolution demanded that “civilians, including humanitarian personnel and persons in vulnerable situations, including women and children are fully protected.” It also called for a “negotiated ceasefire” to allow the “safe, rapid, and unhindered evacuation of civilians.” However, the draft made no reference to Russia’s military actions in Ukraine and did not seek to assign blame to either party.
Prior to the vote, the United States’ (US) Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that 13 members will be abstaining “in a unified protest vote.” Accusing Russia of being the “aggressor, the attacker, [and] the invader” in the Ukraine crisis, she highlighted that Moscow “does not care” about the humanitarian implications of its military aggression. She also called Russia’s resolution an attempt to use the UNSC as “cover for its brutal actions.”
Just now, in a unified protest vote, 13 members of the Security Council abstained from Russia’s farcical resolution deflecting blame for the humanitarian crisis it has created in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/fVoPGdJzHR
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) March 23, 2022
“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,” she added.
“Senseless”
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) March 24, 2022
“Spineless”
“Useless”
“Farcical”
“Reprehensible”
The Security Council speaks in many languages, but tonight, we sent a unified message on Russia’s absurd resolution. Russia must end its attacks on Ukraine now.
Along the same lines, British representative Barbara Woodward pointed out that Russia’s draft overlooked the fact that Russian forces are “bombing maternity hospitals, schools, and homes.” Likewise, French ambassador Nicolas de Rivière criticised the resolution by calling it a “manoeuvre from Moscow to justify its aggression against Ukraine.” Along these same lines, Albania’s envoy, Ferit Hoxha, said that Russia’s resolution was a “mountain of hypocrisy.”
On the other hand, Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun stressed on the need to allow humanitarian issues to “transcend the political differences” and thus called upon the Council to unite and “respond to the humanitarian crisis in a positive, pragmatic, and constructive manner.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s representative, Vassily Nebenzia, emphasised on the importance of the draft being passed. While predicting that the resolution was likely to fail before the UNSC, he said, “This is something which UN humanitarian representatives on the ground would be very interested in much more so than any humanitarian resolution from the General Assembly.” This was a veiled reference to a pending resolution before the Assembly that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after having previously done so on March 2.
India has previously abstained from voting on resolutions in both the UN General Assembly and the UNSC that sought to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine and called for a withdrawal of its troops. While it has underscored the importance of respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all nations without specifically mentioning Ukraine, it has refused to outright condemn Russia, instead vaguely asserting that diplomacy and de-escalation are the only options.
However, it also refused to side with Russia in those two previous votes at the UN, hinting at displeasure with Moscow or an unwillingness to condone its actions. Moreover, during a conversation with his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the need to respect international law. Though he did not mention Russia by name, it appeared to mark yet another step in the direction of India expressing its opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Crucially, India has justified its two previous abstentions via statements from its Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and others. This time around, however, India has not released any statements regarding its refusal to back Russia’s resolution, once again indicating uneasiness with Russia’s actions that it is not willing to vocalise. At the same time, by offering no reasoning for its abstention, it has maintained its neutral stance and protected its time-tested relationship with Russia.
India’s abstention came just two days after US President Joe Biden criticised India for its “somewhat shaky” position on the Ukraine crisis, singling it out as the only Quad member that has yet to condemn Russia. In this respect, it is noteworthy that India aligned with the US this time around. That being said, it has not confirmed whether it abstained as an act of protest like the other 12 abstainers.
On one hand, it could be argued that India is now finding that its neutral stance could become indefensible.
At the same time, however, perhaps it was biding its time until all of its citizens had been evacuated from Ukraine. Operation Ganga has now been declared complete, with India having brought around 23,000 citizens back home. This likely could not have been achieved without cooperation from both Ukraine and Russia, with whom India has maintained close contact throughout the war. In this respect, it was perhaps deemed unwise to even hint at a definitive stance on the war until now.
Nevertheless, it is unlikely that India will condemn Russia outright even in light of these developments. India continues to rely on Russia for 60-70% of its military equipment. Moreover, it recently accepted an offer to purchase Russian oil at heavily discounted rates despite Western opposition. In fact, according to the Financial Times, India’s purchase of Russian oil imports increased fourfold in March.