India abstains on Russia-sponsored UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution involving Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS: India has abstained on yet another resolution involving Ukraine, this time a motion sponsored by Russia at the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Only China voted with Russia on Wednesday on the resolution calling for an inquiry into what Moscow alleged was a joint bio-warfare programme run by the US and Ukraine in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

All the 10 non-permanent members abstained and the only negative votes from the US, Britain and France did not amount to vetoes because the resolution automatically failed without getting the minimum of nine votes.

Explaining India's abstention, Counsellor Asokan Amarnath cited the absence of "an effective, universal and non-discriminatory verification mechanism" for implementing the provisions of the BWC.

He told the Council that developing such a verification mechanism "is necessary to strengthen the BWC and its implementation".

"We hope the current situation will provide an impetus for early consideration and negotiation of such a Protocol" for verification, he added. India is one of the 184 signatories to the convention that bans the use, manufacture, distribution and stockpiling of biological weapons. This was at least the 11th time India had abstained on a substantive resolution at the Security Council and the General Assembly involving Ukraine. (IANS)

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