All decisions should be taken fully respecting due process, India said

India abstained from voting in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council on Thursday for its actions in Ukraine, saying it firmly believed that all decisions should be taken fully respecting due process.

At the same time, expressing deep concern at the worsening situation in Ukraine, India reiterated its call for an end to all hostilities.

Russia was suspended after the US-led resolution received 93 votes in favour, while 24 countries voted against it and 58 countries abstained. A two-thirds majority of voting members was needed to suspend Russia from the 47-member Human Rights Council. Abstentions did not count in the final decision on the vote at the UNGA.

Explaining India’s vote to abstain from the resolution, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN TS Tirumurti said, “We continue to remain deeply concerned at the worsening situation and reiterate our call for end to all hostilities. When innocent human lives are at state, diplomacy must prevail as the only viable option”.

“Since the inception of the Ukrainian conflict, India has stood for peace, dialogue and diplomacy. We believe that no solution can be arrived at by shedding blood and at the cost of innocent lives. If India has chosen any side, it is the side of peace and it is for an immediate end to violence,” he said.

According to Tirumurti, recent reports of civilian killings in Bucha “are deeply disturbing. We have unequivocally condemned these killings and support the call for an independent investigation”.

Pointing out that the impact of the crisis had also been felt beyond the region with increasing food and energy costs, especially for many developing countries, he said, “it is in our collective interest” to work constructively, both inside the United Nations and outside, towards seeking an early resolution to the conflict.

India had been at the forefront of protecting human rights, right from the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Tirumurti pointed out.

“We firmly believe that all decisions should be taken fully respecting due process, as all our democratic polity and structures enjoin us to do. This applies to international organisations as well, particularly the United Nations,” Tirumurti emphasised.