Why India Abstained From Voting On UNSC Resolution On Russian Invasion Of Ukraine And What It Means
The 8979th meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was held on February 25 to pass a resolution under Chapter VII of the UN charter. The draft resolution was called to vote to end Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine. It also aimed to deplore Russia’s decision to grant independence to Ukraine’s breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk and reverse the decision, calling it violative of territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine.
The draft resolution was submitted by Albania and the United States.
Out of the total fifteen members of the UNSC, eleven voted in favour, Russia vetoed the resolution and three countries abstained from the voting.
Thus, the resolution was rejected by the UNSC. The meeting began at 5.10 pm and the fate of the resolution was sealed when the meeting concluded at 6.59pm in New York. The three abstaining countries were India, United Arab Emirates and China.
What’s India Abstention From Voting Means
India abstained from voting on the draft resolution of UNSC for holding Russia accountable for Ukraine’s crisis. So, what does it mean to abstain from voting on a UNSC resolution?
A UNSC resolution is of two kinds — one is obligatory and the other non-obligatory for the member states of the UN. A non-binding resolution of the UNSC is one that is passed under Article 33, Chapter VI of the UN charter. An obligatory or binding resolution of the UNSC is passed under Article 39, Chapter VII of the UN charter.
As is clear from the nature of the UNSC resolution, a binding obligation carries a lot of ramifications once it is passed by the UNSC. Therefore, voting on the UNSC resolution acquires greater significance.
The UNSC can pass two kinds of resolutions — one under chapter VI and the other under chapter VII. The formula for voting on these resolutions is given under Article 27(3) of the UN Charter.
The UNSC has altogether 15 members, of which five are permanent (P5), while ten are appointed for two years under Article 23 of the UN charter. The five permanent members are Russia, the USA, China, the UK, and France.
Voting In Security Council
The formula for UNSC voting in chapter VII resolution on an issue, which is substantive, is that it must get nine affirmative votes out of a total of 15 possible votes. Further, the nine affirmative vote shall always have five concurrence votes of permanent members. Thus, mathematically, it can be formulated as:
9 affirmative votes = votes of P5 + any four votes.
Thus, the resolution must receive a mandatory nine votes, of which concurrence vote of P5 is absolute necessity.
There is a possibility of abstention in voting under the UNSC resolution. And there can be two kinds of abstentions — by P5 members or by non-P5 members. Abstention by non-P5 members merely means that temporary members do not wish to take sides in a resolution, which can be inferred as neither favouring the resolution, nor supporting it. The UNSC resolution would not get affected by the abstentions of any temporary members as long as the resolution gets nine affirmative votes, as mentioned in the formula stated above.
Thus, India’s abstention along with China and the UAE could not have hampered the fate of the resolution. What restricted the resolution to get passed was the requirement of concurrence of P5 members on the resolution.
Since Russia is a P5 member, and it did not concur with the rest of the P5 members, the resolution was defeated despite getting eleven votes in favour. The act of not concurring with the rest of the P5 members in this voting is called veto. Thus, Russia vetoed the resolution by not concurring with the rest of P5.
Why Did India Abstain From Voting?
India appeared to have abstained from the voting for multiple reasons.
By abstaining from voting, India could establish its neutrality in a matter involving Russia and the USA. India has been on a path of strategic partnership with the USA, in which the Narendra Modi government has invested a lot. At the same time, Russia is an all-weather friend of India. TS Tirumurti, India’s Ambassador to the UN, stressed that “dialogue is the only path forward”. He explained the reasons for abstention in the following words: "It is a matter of regret that the path of diplomacy was given up. We must return to it. For all these reasons India has chosen to abstain on this resolution.”
Moreover, India’s vote was in any way inconsequential given Russia has the veto power to block the resolution from getting passed. Therefore, India had the luxury to be seen as neutral on a matter that it supports but not by going against an all-weather and tested ally. So, India is sympathetic to the cause of territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine, but also shares the Russian security concern vis-à-vis Ukriane joining NATO and Ukraine’s heavy-handed approach of the Russian-speaking ethnic minority of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that Russia just declared independent entities.
Hence, though India is in-principle in agreement with the rest of the world that the territorial integrity of Ukriane is non-negotiable, it did not want Russia to be penalised with onerous international sanctions, as Russia has a case to argue that should be diplomatically solved.
Although it is immaterial in the present context, it must be highlighted that Ukraine has a chequered past with respect to India in international relations. Ukraine has opposed the Indian action of removing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in Parliament, and has also sold weapons to Pakistan.
The author is a PhD fellow at Hamburg University. He has written two books on financial laws.
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.]
Trending News
