New York: India abstained from voting on a resolution tabled by Ireland and the United States *US) in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to allow humanitarian aid to sanctioned entities around the world.
It proposed an exemption under which the processing or payment of funds and the provision of goods and services needed to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance would not be considered as violations of sanctions.
India, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, was the only country that abstained from the vote. All 14 other members of the council voted in favour of the resolution.
Ruchira Kamboj, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said that the country’s concerns “emanate from proven instances of terrorist groups taking full advantage of such humanitarian carve-outs, and making a mockery of sanction regimes, including that of the 1267 Sanctions Committee”.
Under the United Nations 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee regime, any member state of the world body can propose that an individual or an entity be declared as a terrorist or terrorist group.
Kamboj said that terrorist outfits must not be allowed to misuse the garb of humanitarian cover to expand their activities. She added that such exemptions must not lead to mainstreaming of terrorist organisations.
“There have…been several cases of terrorist groups in our neighborhood, including those listed by this Council, re-incarnating themselves as humanitarian organisations and civil society groups precisely to evade these sanctions,” the statement by India read. “These terrorist organisations use the umbrella of the humanitarian assistance space to raise funds and recruit fighters.”
The diplomat said that India calls for “due diligence and extreme caution” to be exercised in the implementation of the resolution.
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