India voted in favour of a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly condemning Israel’s settlements activities in Palestine territory. As many as 145 countries supported the resolution while seven countries including the United States and Canada voted against it. Eighteen countries abstained from voting.
The resolution was passed two day after its draft was approved on Thursday. Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru were the other countries which voted against the resolution titled ‘Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan’.
“By its terms, the Assembly would condemn settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan and any activities involving the confiscation of land, the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the annexation of land, whether de facto or through national legislation,” the UN said in a statement.
The resolution also called for “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israel and Hamas. India’s voted in favour of the resolution assumes significance as it comes days after the country abstaining from voting in the previous resolution moved by Jordan that called for an immediate truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The resolution, which had no mention of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that triggered the subsequent war, was adopted with 120 countries voting in favour. Even though India had condemned the “terrorist” attack on Israel by the Hamas group, the ministry of external affairs has made it clear that New Delhi supported the “sovereign, independent and viable” state of Palestine living side by side with Israel.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dialed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and shared deep concern at the terrorism, violence and deteriorating security situation in the region.
