India has refused to back a resolution in the UN General Assembly that urged Russia to immediately end its aggression against Ukraine and urgently withdraw its forces and other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, news agency PTI reported.
The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on Thursday with 99 votes in favour, nine against and 60 abstentions, including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Those voting against the resolution included Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Russia and Syria.
The resolution calling for Russia to end its offensive in Ukraine came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Moscow and met Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the talks, PM Modi flagged the aftermath of the Ukraine war, including the deaths of children in the over two-year-long conflict.
The UN resolution titled 'Safety and security of nuclear facilities of Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant' demanded that Russia “immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders".
It also demanded that Russia urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and immediately hand it over to Ukraine to ensure the facility's safety and security.
It called for the "immediate cessation of the attacks" by Russia against Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure, which increases the risk of a nuclear accident in the war-torn country.
The draft resolution was introduced by Ukraine and was sponsored by over 50 member states, including France, Germany and the US.
Before the vote on the resolution, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy said the UN General Assembly had "unfortunately" adopted many documents that were non-consensual, politicised and did not reflect reality.
"Make no mistake: votes in favour of today's draft will be regarded by Kyiv, Washington, Brussels and London as evidence of support for their policy of further escalating the Ukrainian conflict to the detriment of steps taken by a sensible part of the international community to find a peaceful, sustainable and long-term solution to the conflict," he said.
