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Two weeks after abstaining from a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that called for a ceasefire in the Israeli strikes on Gaza.
India voted in favour of five of six annual draft resolutions at the UNGA’s Fourth Committee that criticised Israel for increasing settlements in the Occupied Territories, was in favour of Palestinians’ right to homes and property, and supported the UN Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA) operating in Gaza.
India’s stand on Palestine - Israel issue
India voted in favour of five of six annual draft resolutions at the UNGA’s Fourth Committee that criticized Israel for increasing settlements in the Occupied Territories, was in favour of Palestinians’ right to homes and property, and supported the UN Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA) operating in Gaza.
Its Explanation of Vote in the original UNGA resolution in October said that India could not vote for a resolution that did not include an “explicit condemnation” of the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
These were instead identical to resolutions that India had voted for before, and neither India nor any other country at the Fourth Committee deliberations proposed amendments.
The Israeli envoy, in fact, demanded a rejection of the “anti-Israel” resolutions as they did not contain references to the current situation.
Cuba argued that the resolutions were important to vote for, but that they also did not contain references to the more than 11,000 Palestinians killed, including 4,000 children, and the displaced (nearly a million).
India did not propose amendments, nor did any Indian diplomat speak, although a lengthier explanation may be expected when the resolutions are put to a vote by the UNGA next month — by which time more of Gaza would have been flattened.
At a time when every day counts, New Delhi appears unwilling to exert itself to making a difference.
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