Back-to-back UN votes will put Delhi's policy to test

Resolutions Coming Up In General Assembly, Security & Rights Councils

- Sachin Parashar

New Delhi: India’s default position of abstaining from all votes in UN on Ukraine is likely to be tested with back-to-back resolutions likely to come up for voting in the UN General Assembly, Security Council and Human Rights Council in the next few days. Significantly for India, voting will take place after the loss of an Indian life in the Kharkiv shelling.

While it is unlikely to see any dramatic change in India’s voting behaviour, the government will weigh its options carefully when it comes to a likely resolution in UNSC for humanitarian assistance and access. The government may be tempted to vote in favour, given that it is already despatching relief supplies to Ukraine, but India’s vote will depend on the language used in the resolution.