NEW DELHI: India along with 12 other members, has voted in favour of a procedural matter at the UN Security Council (UNSC) for inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak via a remote link.
Russia opposed this move and China abstained. But because it was a procedural matter it did not count as a veto.
At the beginning of the meeting Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nbenziz raised an objection to Zelensky’s video link arrangement and demanded that he come in person to the council chamber and ask for the vote. however, the major voted for Zelensky speaking remotely.
The MEA said that India has not voted against anyone, but only supported Zelensky to speak virtually. this is the third time that Zelensky will be speaking remotely, and we have only supported the move to permit him to do so and not voted against anyone,’’ said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
During the course of the meeting, India's Permanent Representative at the UNSC Ruchira Kambo said, "We continue to carefully follow developments regarding the safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. India attaches high importance to ensuring the safety and security of these facilities as any incident involving nuclear facilities could potentially have disastrous consequences for public health and the environment.’’
The UNSC meeting took place on a day that Ukraine celebrated as its independence Day and also six months since the conflict began on February 24th. After the vote, when Zelensky spoke via video link, he warned that the world’s security depended on how Russia’s invasion was handled. “it is on the territory of Ukraine that the world’s future will be decided,” Zelensky said, “our independence is your security”.