India has taken strong exception to remarks on its stand on the Ukraine conflict by the Netherlands envoy to the UK and said “kindly do not patronise us. We know what to do.”
This terse message was given in the United Nations by India’s Permanent Representative TS Tirumurti in response to the Dutch envoy’s remarks that India should not have abstained in the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.
“Kindly don’t patronise us, Ambassador. We know what to do,” Tirumurti said on Wednesday in response to a tweet by Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Karel van Oosterom. In the tweet, the Dutch envoy said to Tirumurti: “You should not have abstained in the GA. Respect the UN Charter.”
Tirumurti delivered a statement at the UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday on Ukraine. He posted the full text of his statement on Twitter saying, “At the UN Security Council meeting on #Ukraine this afternoon, I made the following statement” to which van Oosterom made the comment about India abstaining in the General Assembly.
In his speech, Tirumurti said India condemned the killing of civilians in Bucha and supported the call for an independent investigation. “India remains on the side of peace,” he said.
India, so far, has abstained from voting against Russia in the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council.
New Delhi has also not criticised the Russian military action in Ukraine and has all along called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict. India has time and again also called for the immediate cessation of hostilities and this message was reiterated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent visit to Germany and Denmark.
In April, India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a vote moved by the US to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians while retreating from towns near Kyiv.
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India slams Netherlands for
jibe on its stand on Ukraine
In March, India abstained from the UN General Assembly on a resolution by Ukraine and its allies on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, saying the focus should be on cessation of hostilities and urgent humanitarian assistance and the draft did not fully reflect New Delhi’s expected focus on these challenges.
On March 2, the General Assembly had voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and deplored in the strongest terms Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
India, along with 34 other nations had abstained from the resolution, which was adopted with 141 votes in favour and five Member States voting against.