Veteran Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hailed External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar for India's abstention from the vote in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on a resolution that exempts humanitarian aid efforts from sanctions. Notably, the United Nations and Ireland tabled a sanctions carve-out on Saturday in order to exempt humanitarian efforts across the globe.
India, which has been a victim of terrorism, was the only country which chose abstention at the UNSC, arguing "some countries are taking advantage of the exemption and spread terrorism in India." Taking to social media, Tharoor expressed his total agreement with India's reservations which led to its abstention and added that one need not have to look far across the border for evidence to substantiate what India's top ambassador to UN Ruchira Kamboj said in her statement. In a tweet, he appreciated the decision of Jaishankar and Kamboj and wrote, "Well done".
Meanwhile, delivering India's stance on the UN platform, the senior diplomat underlined that the neighbouring country has widely benefitted from the exemptions from the sanctions. Although she did not utter Pakistan during her speech at the UN, she said, "India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj said that India's concerns were triggered by proven instances of terrorist groups including Pakistan-based terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed "taking full advantage of such humanitarian carve-outs and making a mockery of sanctions regimes."
"There have been several cases of terrorist groups in our neighbourhood, reincarnating themselves as humanitarian organizations and civil society groups precisely to evade the sanctions. These terrorist organizations use the umbrella of the humanitarian assistance space to raise funds and recruit fighters," she added.
However, UNSC approved the resolution exempting humanitarian aid from all current and future UN sanctions regimes, a vote the United States hailed as "historic" that will save lives and address longstanding problems of sanctions impeding aid deliveries. The draft resolution was adopted-14 votes in favour, zero against and one absentation.
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