India abstains on UNSC draft resolution denouncing Russia's 'illegal referenda' in Ukraine

India chose not to vote in favour of a draft resolution tabled at the United Nations Security Council which denounced Russia's "illegal referenda" and annexation of four Ukrainian territories while calling for an immediate end to violence and emphasised the need to find a way to resume negotiations.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, stated that India was extremely worried by the recent turn of events in Ukraine and that New Delhi has always argued that no solution can ever arrive at the expense of human life in her explanation of the vote.

"India is deeply disturbed by the recent turn of developments in Ukraine. We've always advocated that no solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives. We urge that all efforts are made by the concerned sides for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities. Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment," Ruchira Kamboj said.

'Path to peace requires us to keep all channels of diplomacy open': India

Adding further, Kamboj at UNSC said, "The path to peace requires us to keep all channels of diplomacy open and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unequivocally conveyed this in his discussions with world leaders, including with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy."

Referring to Modi's statement to Putin that "today's era is not an era of war" during the SCO Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Kamboj said New Delhi truly wishes for an early restart of peace talks to result in an immediate ceasefire and end to the conflict.

"It is important that pathways are found for a return to the negotiating table. Keeping in view the totality of the evolving situation, India decided to abstain on the resolution,” Kamboj said.

Notably, according to the UNSC draft resolution concerned which was proposed by the US and Albania, Russia's "unlawful actions" in relation to the "illegal so-called referenda" conducted from September 23 to September 27 this year in portions of the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya cannot be used as justification for any change to the status of these regions of Ukraine, including any "purported annexation" of any of these regions by Moscow.

It is pertinent to mention that Russia, however, vetoed the resolution, preventing it from being adopted. Ten of the Council's fifteen members voted in favour of the motion, with China, Gabon, India, and Brazil abstaining.