United Nations: India on Monday abstained from a procedural vote taken in the UN Security Council ahead of a meeting to discuss the situation on the Ukraine border. It called for constructive dialog and immediate de-escalation of hostilities.
The UN Security Council met Monday to discuss the issue. Ahead of the meeting, Russia, a permanent and veto-wielding member, called for a procedural vote to determine whether the open meeting should go ahead.
Russia and China voted against the meeting, while India, Gabon and Kenya abstained. All other 10 Council members, including Norway, France, US, UK, France, Ireland, Brazil and Mexico, voted in favour of the meeting going through.
The Council needed only 9 yes votes. With 10 members voting in favour, the Council went ahead with the meeting on the situation on the Ukraine border.
Russia is reported to have an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine, raising fears of an invasion into Ukraine, which Russia denies vehemently.
Moscow, on the other hand, is demanding that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the military alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. The US and NATO have rejected Russia’s demands but have not ruled out more talks to de-escalate the crisis.
