India voted in favor of a resolution put before Tuesday’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The vote is considered a major shift in the South Asian country’s approach to the conflict there.
In October, New Delhi abstained from voting on a Jordanian resolution calling for a humanitarian truce, citing its “zero-tolerance policy” on what it called terrorism.
On the 68th day of Israel’s brutal aggression on Gaza, however, India’s position changed.
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday in favor of a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.https://t.co/sYz385RW1c pic.twitter.com/XqOpxaTmrE
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 12, 2023
“(The) challenge in this extraordinarily difficult time is to strike the right balance,” Ruchira Kamboj, India’s permanent representative to the UN, said while delivering her remarks on the vote.
Kamboj insisted that the unraveling situation in the Middle East has “many dimensions.”
Although she condemned the military operation carried out by the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas on October 7, Kamboj highlighted the “enormous humanitarian crisis” and the “large-scale loss of civilian lines” as causes for concern.
Israeli forces have arrested Ahmed al-Kahlout, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the northern Gaza Strip, along with dozens of medical personnel. https://t.co/wJgJxH1ZVe pic.twitter.com/ekZYoIUptU
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 13, 2023
Diplomatic Tightrope
The Indian representative also reiterated that New Delhi’s official stance on the decades-long conflict is the achievement of a two-state solution.
“We therefore welcome the fact,” she added, “that the international community has been able to find a common ground to address the multiple challenges facing the region right now.”
India was among 153 countries that voted in favor of the resolution, introduced by the Arab Group and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which also called for the protection of civilians in line with international law and the release of captives currently held by Hamas in Gaza.
Far-right Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first world leaders to condemn Hamas’ military operation.
In the ensuing weeks, however, Modi has walked a diplomatic tightrope on the issue: he has called out human rights violations in the Israeli siege of Gaza, assuring continued aid to suffering Palestinians, and urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
Several Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings of three schools facilitated by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip, in the past 24 hours. https://t.co/jnwYTsqmUg pic.twitter.com/js6rX2h8Nr
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 13, 2023
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 18,412 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, RT)
