India on Monday abstained from a procedural vote to call an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Welcoming the decision by Ukraine and Russia to hold talks, New Delhi also reiterated that diplomacy and dialogue was the way forward to defuse the situation.
Voting to convene the special session took place in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) early on Monday. The resolution was adopted with 11 votes in favour. India, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) abstained while Russia voted against the resolution.
The UNSC, comprising 15 members met to vote on the emergency special session of the 193-member UNGA on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The vote for the UNGA session was procedural and, therefore, none of the five permanent members of the Security Council, including China, France, Russia, the UK and the US could exercise their vetoes.
Explaining India’s position for abstaining, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said, “It is regrettable that the situation in Ukraine has worsened further since the Council last convened on this matter.”
Tirumurti stressed that there is no other choice but to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue. “We welcome today’s announcement by both sides to hold talks at the Belarus border,” he said.
The Ambassador said India continues to be deeply concerned about the safety and security of Indian nationals, including a large number of Indian students, who are still stranded in Ukraine.
“Our evacuation efforts have been adversely impacted by the complex and uncertain situation at the border crossings. It is important to maintain an uninterrupted and predictable movement of people. It is an urgent humanitarian necessity that must be immediately addressed,” he said.
Continued on page 2
India abstains on vote to call emergency UNGA session on Ukraine
“Taking into consideration the totality of the circumstances, we have decided to abstain,” he said.
While a UNSC resolution would have been legally binding, General Assembly resolutions are not. A vote in the 193-member UN body is symbolic of world opinion.
It was the second time in last three days that India, China and the UAE abstained from voting in the UNSC. On Friday last week, these three countries did not vote when a resolution was moved in the UNSC to condemn the military action by Russia against Ukraine. Russia, as a permanent member of the UNSC, had vetoed while 11 other countries voted in favour of the resolution which could not be adopted.
In the latest development, the special session of UN General Assembly is likely to take place on Monday night or early Tuesday morning.
It will be the 11th such emergency session of the General Assembly since 1950.
Under the resolution "Uniting for Peace", adopted by the General Assembly in November 1950, an emergency special session can be convened within 24 hours of such a meeting being requested.
In the explanation of vote in the Security Council on Friday, Tirumurti had said India is "deeply disturbed" by the recent turn of developments in Ukraine and urges that all efforts be made for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities.
As regards the evacuation of Indian students, Ukraine’s Ambassador to New Delhi Igor Polikha said here on Monday his country was trying to assist in the evacuation of stranded Indian nationals, notwithstanding a "very difficult and complex" ground situation.
Polikha said he himself reached out to Ukrainian security forces requesting them to assist the stranded Indians. "The situation is very difficult and complex. My resources are limited. We are victim of an aggression. Still we are trying to help people including those from other countries," he said.
He said the situation in the Ukraine-Poland border crossing is challenging as lakhs of people, including diplomats, foreigners and Ukrainian citizens, are queuing up to exit Ukraine.
"In case of Indian nationals, we are even trying to use our personal
contacts to help them. But, you have to understand the ground realities. We are in a war," he said.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Monday advised all Indian students stranded in Kyiv to reach the railway station in the Ukrainian capital for their onward journey to the western parts of the war-torn country.
It said the weekend curfew in Kyiv has been lifted and they can go to the railway station to get out of the city. "Weekend curfew lifted in Kyiv. All students are advised to make their way to the railway station for onward journey to the western parts. Ukraine Railways is putting special trains for evacuations," the Embassy tweeted.
The areas in the east of Ukraine including Kharkiv and Sumy are the conflict zones and India has been focusing on taking out its
citizens from these areas to the country's western region for their
subsequent evacuation through border crossings to Hungary, Romania,
Poland and Slovakia.
"The Ministry of External Affairs, under the direct supervision of the External Affairs Minister, and the overall guidance of the Prime Minister is doing everything possible to make sure that the safety, security and the interests of our citizens in Ukraine are given the highest priority," Shringla said.
India on Friday last week managed to set up camp offices in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in western Ukraine to facilitate the transit of Indians to Hungary, Romania and Poland.
India also positioned teams of officials at Zahony border post in
Hungary, Krakowiec as well as Shehyni-Medyka land border points in
Poland, Vysne Nemecke in the Slovak Republic and Suceava transit point in Romania to coordinate the exit of Indian nationals from Ukraine. India is using the land routes to evacuate its citizens as Ukraine has closed its airspace for civilian aircraft following the Russian attack.
With Poland providing exit route for Indian students from Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday discussed the Ukraine developments with his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau. He appreciated Poland’s facilitation of the evacuation of Indian students.
Extending support to Ukraine, Poland’s envoy to New Delhi Adam Burakowski said here his country is helping it in providing ammunition and all types of support. “The whole European Union airspace is closed for Russian aircraft including private jets. Japan, US and other countries have also imposed sanctions on Russia,” he said.
He also said Poland is facilitating special flights from his country to bring the Indian nationals and assured of all co-operation. The envoy also said Poland will also help India’s high level delegation in the evacuation process.
The Ambassador said more than two lakh people have crossed into Poland including Indian students from Ukraine. “The border points are overcrowded but we are receiving everyone with a warm heart,” Burakowski said.