India abstains from UN vote calling for immediate truce in Gaza

The UN General Assembly has adopted a non-binding resolution calling for an 'immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities' in Gaza. It was passed by a huge majority, with 120 countries.

India is among the 45 countries which chose to abstain from voting (14 countries voted against).

India’s deputy permanent representative, ambassador Yojna Patel, called the 7 October Hamas assault shocking terror attacks and demanded the immediate release of the hostages.

She did add that the casualties in Gaza are a continuing concern and the crisis needs to be addressed. Welcoming ongoing efforts and reiterating support for the two-state solution, Patel urged the parties to de-escalate the violence and work towards resuming substantial peace negotiations.

Pakistan’s ambassador Munir Akram said that if Canada, which had moved an amendment seeking to name Hamas, was being fair, it would agree to name Israel as well as Hamas. Not naming either side was the best choice he said, as the Jordanian resolution does.

“Israel needs to be named too, if you are to be fair and equitable and just”, Akram said. “We all know who started this. It is 50 years of Israeli occupation and the killing of Palestinians with impunity… Israel can’t face the truth or face justice. The Israeli occupation is the original sin, not what happened on 7 October,” the Pakistani ambassador added.

The amendment, proposed by Canada and backed by over 35 member states, including the US, sought an explicit condemnation of Hamas. It did not pass, failing to get the support of a two-thirds majority per UN regulations.

The US declared that after the current crisis is over, “there is no going back to the status quo, as it stood on 6 October”, and reiterated the importance of a two-state solution.

However, the United States was among the 14 countries that voted against the resolution for a humanitarian truce.

The Jordanian-proposed resolution emphasises the importance of adhering to international humanitarian law.

The others who stood against it included Israel (unsurprisingly), Hungary, Austria, Czechia, Fiji, Guatemala, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga.

India was among 45 countries — most of them from the Western military bloc — that chose to abstain in the vote at an emergency session of the UNGA in New York on Friday afternoon, early Saturday morning Indian time.

Others who abstained include Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and Ukraine.

The resolution that was adopted urged the unconditional release of all captive civilians and unhindered supply of essential provisions to Gaza.

It was sponsored by many Arab and Islamic countries, including key states like Egypt, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Russia also sponsored the resolution.