In a turn-around, India votes for UNGA resolution for Gaza ceasefire

United Nations, Dec 13: Faced with the “challenge” to “strike the right balance”, India has joined the General Assembly’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, reversing its earlier position of abstaining.
After the resolution was adopted on Tuesday with 153 votes, India’s Permanent Representative to UN, Ruchira Kamboj, outlined the complicating factors, the terrorist attack on October 7 on Israel, the humanitarian crisis and the deaths of civilians and said, “Our challenge in this extraordinarily difficult time is to strike the right balance.”
“We, therefore, welcome the fact that the international community has been able to find a common ground to address the multiple challenges facing the region right now,” she added.
The resolution presented by Egypt and Mauritania with scores of co-sponsors received only 10 votes against and there were 23 abstentions. It also demanded the release of all hostages and called on all parties to comply with their international obligations, especially for protecting civilians and to ensure humanitarian access for relief to Gaza.
The resolution is only symbolic because, unlike the Security Council, it does not have enforcement powers.
In the continuing Israel counterattack on Gaza in pursuit of Hamas, more than 18,000 Palestinians, over 8,600 of them children and 4,500 women, have died leading to support for Israel ebbing. The UN has warned of a breakdown in the humanitarian system in Gaza where a majority of its 2.2 million residents have been displaced from their homes and face hunger and disease. Illustrating the change in attitudes towards Israel, the earlier resolution on October 27 received 121 votes and it has risen to 153 for the latest resolution on Tuesday, while votes against came down from 14 to 10, and abstentions 44 to 23.
India, in a change from its policy of firm support for Palestine, had abstained on the October resolution because it did not condemn terrorism. (IANS)