External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was non-committal on where India stood with regard to so-called ‘referendums’ Russia has organised in four occupied regions in Ukraine. When asked whether the so called referenda aid the cause of peace and conform to the U.N. Charter principles that India stood by as per his ddress to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last week, Mr. Jaishankar did not answer the question but said the issue would come up for discussion at the U.N.
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“I think it is an issue that will be coming up for consideration. My understanding is in the United Nations. So I would urge you to wait and see what our ambassador [ Ruchira Kamboj] has to say,” he said at a press briefing to the Indian press at the conclusion of his U.S. visit.
The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas Greenfield had said on Tuesday that the U.S. and Albania would introduce a resolution on these ‘referendums’ at the U.N. Security Council.
They would ask countries not to accept alterations in the status of Ukraine and require Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory. Ms Thomas Greenfield had also said that the resolutions would be put to the General Assembly if Russia, which has a veto at the UNSC, blocks its passage by the body, as it is expected to do. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, India has abstained on resolutions censuring Moscow at the Security Council and the General Assembly.
Russia has conducted what it refers to as referendums between September 23 and 27 in Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, with Russian administrations in these provinces , on Wednesday, asking to join Russia.