India abstains from voting in UNHRC on holding debate on China & Uyghur Muslims, ends up helping them
The Centre said that the vote was in line with its long held position that country specific resolutions are never helpful. The motion brought by US, Britain and Canada at the UN got 17 votes in favor and 19 against while 11 countries did not take part in the UNHRC vote
India on Thursday abstained on a draft resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) calling for a debate on the human rights situation against Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region.
While replying to a question on the issue, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said “It is in line with India’s practice of not voting on country-specific resolution,” at a media briefing.
The efforts of the US and Western countries to bring a resolution against China on the situation of Uighur Muslims in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) suffered a setback when 17 members voted in favour of the resolution, 19 members voted against it, including China, Pakistan, and Nepal. While 11 members abstained, including India, Brazil, Mexico, and Ukraine, indirectly helped China by being absent at the time of voting.
Since 2017, there has been extensive documentation of China’s crackdown against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, carried out under the guise of fighting terrorism.
An agreement has also been reached recently to resolve the ongoing military dispute between the two countries on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh of India from May, 2020 and the withdrawal of troops. However, during this period, China has also thwarted India’s efforts to ban terrorists hiding in Pakistan by using its veto power in the UN Security Council (UNSC).
Arindam Bagchi also said that the situation is not normal between India and China. His statement was in contradiction to Beijing’s envoy who claimed that the situation was becoming normal along the LAC.
