India in focus again at United Nations

New Delhi: The UN Security Council will meet early on Monday in a hastily convened session to vote on a resolution to convene an emergency meeting of the General Assembly to take up the Ukraine crisis. Attention will be focused on how India votes on the resolution after having abstained on the two previous Ukraine-related votes in the Council.

The office of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesperson said the Council will meet on Ukraine at 3 pm (Sunday) local time (Monday 1.30 am in India). At the meeting to be held in the aftermath of the Russian veto on Friday of a Council resolution condemning Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the US and its allies are expected to present a resolution for the 193-member General Assembly to take up the issue. The resolution would be considered a procedural matter on which permanent members do not have a veto and is expected to pass easily.

After the Russian veto of the resolution condemning its invasion of Ukraine, US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield had said on Friday that a similar resolution would be presented to the Assembly. Unlike in the Council, no country has veto power and a resolution condemning Russia and demanding that it withdraw its invading troops is almost certain to pass.

Only a simple majority of 97 votes will be required for it and it is expected to get at least that given the voting pattern in the Council where all the African and Latin American countries voted for the resolution there. Only the three Asian countries, India, China and United Arab Emirates, abstained. But several Asian countries that are not members of the Council backed it. India had also abstained on a procedural vote in January on the Council considering the Russian threat to Ukraine.