India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: India on Wednesday abstained from voting at the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution asking Israel to end its occupation of Palestine within 12 months.
The resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly, with 124 of the 193 member nations voting in favour of it and 14 against it. India was among the 43 nations, which abstained from voting. The other nations, which abstained from voting, included Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Nepal, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Israel and the US were among the nations that voted against the resolution.
The resolution called for Israel to comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land, and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank.
The UN General Assembly, which adopted the resolution, asked Israel to return land and other “immovable property”, as well as all assets seized since the occupation began in 1967, and all cultural property and assets which were taken from Palestinians and Palestinian institutions.
The UN resolution also asked Israel to allow all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their place of origin and make reparation for the damage caused by its occupation.
The resolution followed the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July, which declared that Israel’s continued presence in the territory of Palestine “is unlawful”, and that “all States are under an obligation not to recognize” the decades-long occupation.