India pussyfoots around Israel vote, abstains from call on immediate ceasefire in Gaza

India did not cast a vote on a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council on Friday in Geneva, which demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Israel to remove its siege of the area and end its occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967.

The resolution also demanded that all governments stop transferring, selling, or otherwise providing Israel with weapons, ammunition, and other military hardware.

28 nations supported it, 13 abstained, and 6—including the US and Germany—voted against it. As a result, it was accepted.

India abstained from this resolution but supported the one on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, which was also proposed by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. This resolution was rejected by the US and Paraguay.

India backed a different resolution that demanded that Israel stop all plans and actions linked to settlements in the Syrian Golan.

When asked to explain India's vote, especially the abstentions, the foreign affairs ministry did not reply. Following the October 7, 2023 terrorist assault by Hamas on Israel, India has shifted its stance on the war.

India had originally refrained from voting in favor of a UNGA resolution on Gaza that demanded the protection of people and a humanitarian ceasefire. India therefore used the fact that the resolution did not specifically denounce the October 7 assault by Hamas to justify its abstention.

After hundreds of children were murdered by Israel's bombardment of Gaza, it took India more than two months to demand an urgent humanitarian ceasefire at the UNGA on December 12.

India gave the explanation that it was trying to "strike the right balance" for its new position. While New Delhi also backed modifications that aimed to include mention of Hamas in the resolution, Israel was not happy that India had joined 152 other nations in adopting this resolution at the UNGA.

India has maintained its support for the two-state solution, although its strategy in the present conflict is seen to be more sophisticated than its previous one of overtly supporting Palestine.

Over the last week, India has sent workers to Israel in an effort to assist the nation in addressing the labor shortage that the construction sector has been experiencing since the start of the war.