India votes against Russia in the UNGA

Russia had demanded that the resolution be voted upon by secret ballot.

NewsBharati 11-Oct-2022 11:54:26 AM

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New York, Oct 11: India voted to reject Russia’s demand for a secret ballot in the UN General Assembly on a draft resolution to condemn Moscow’s “illegal” annexation of four regions of Ukraine, with New Delhi favouring a public vote on the text along with over 100 other nations

The 193-member UN General Assembly on Monday, October 10, 2022, voted on a motion by Albania that demanded action on the draft resolution that would condemn Russia’s “illegal so-called referendums” and “attempted illegal annexation” of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine be taken by a recorded vote.

Russia had demanded that the resolution be voted upon by secret ballot. Moscow’s demand for a secret ballot was rejected after 107 UN member states, including India, voted in favour of a recorded vote. Only 13 nations voted in favour of Russia’s call for a secret ballot while 39 abstained. Russia and China were among the countries that did not vote. After the motion to hold a recorded vote was adopted, Russia appealed against the ruling of the president of the general assembly. A recorded vote on Russia’s appeal was held and India was among the 100 nations who voted against the challenge made by Moscow. Russia then sought reconsideration of the decision to adopt the motion submitted by Albania for a recorded vote. The General Assembly decided not to reconsider the motion after 104 nations, including India, voted against such a reconsideration, while 16 voted in favour and 34 abstained. Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia said the UN membership had “become witnesses to an outrageous fraud in which the president of the general assembly, unfortunately, played a key role". "We were not given the floor to make a point of order (the indicator light at our seat is still on), our statement was distorted, and now UN member states are being robbed of their right to express their opinion freely. “This is an unprecedented manipulation undermining the authority of the general assembly and the United Nations as a whole. Of course, in such circumstances we opted to not take part in the vote,” he said.

Also Read: India is deeply concerned by the escalation in the Ukraine conflict: MEA

India last month had abstained while Russia vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution tabled by the US and Albania to condemn Moscow's “illegal referenda” and declared the annexation of four Ukrainian territories as invalid.

The 15-nation UN Security Council had voted on the draft resolution on “Illegal So-Called Referenda in Ukraine”, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin in a ceremony in the Kremlin had signed treaties to annex the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.