NEW DELHI: India on Thursday abstained on a draft resolution at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, which was adopted.
The resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was adopted at the 51st Session of Human Rights Council, with 20 nations voting in favour in the 47-member Council, seven against, including China and Pakistan, and 20 abstentions, including by India, Japan, Nepal and Qatar.
India said it will work with Lanka and the international community to attain the objectives of legitimate aspirations of Tamils of Sri Lanka and prosperity for all Sri Lankans.
“As an immediate neighbour, India has substantively contributed to the relief, rehabilitation, resettlement and reconstruction process in Sri Lanka after 2009. More recently, since January this year, India has stepped up and provided unprecedented assistance to the people of Sri Lanka to face the challenges of the recent economic crisis,’’ said Indra Mani Pandey, India’s permanent representative to the UN, Geneva.
The 20 countries that voted in favour of the resolution included, the UK, the US, Argentina, Finland, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, Republic of Korea and Ukraine.
“While we have taken note of the commitments... on issues of implementation of the commitments in the spirit of the 13th Constitutional Amendment, meaningful devolution and the early conduct of provincial elections, “we believe that the progress towards the same remains inadequate,” Pandey added.