India on Friday abstained from voting on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution, set up to probe Israel’s alleged human rights abuses during its conflict with Hamas
The resolution was adopted with 24 countries voting in favour of the motion while 9 votings against it. India was amongst the 14 countries that abstained.
The resolution was denounced by the Israeli authorities who called it an attempt to “whitewash crimes committed by the terror”.
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The Israel foreign ministry immediately said that it was not going to cooperate with the probe.
Earlier, the Indian government had taken a rather balanced stance on the issue. India had welcomed the decision of ceasefire between Israel and Palestine after the situation had aggravated due to continuous bombing. However, India had condemned the rocket attacks on Israel's civilian areas by Hamas.
“We remain concerned about the continuing violence in Jerusalem, especially at Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount and other Palestinian territories, and about the possible eviction process in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, an area which is part of an arrangement facilitated by the UN,” said the government in its statement.
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India further asked both the countries to show extreme patience and desist from actions that aggravate tensions and refrain from any further attempts to unilaterally change the existing status quo.
“Recent developments have once again underscored the need for immediate resumption of dialogue between Israel and Palestine, aimed at realising the establishment of two states living side by side in peace within secure and recognised borders,” said Indian permanent representative I M Pandey.
India said it remained firmly convinced that dialogue was the only viable option that can effectively address the issues confronting the region and its people.
