India decides to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine, sends message to Russia but abstains from voting in UNSC

India has decided to send humanitarian assistance to Ukraine even as it once again tacitly sent out a message to Russia by expressing regret at the United Nations Security Council over the deteriorating situation in the East European nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told officials during a meeting in the evening that the first consignment of relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian situation on the borders of the country should be dispatched on Tuesday. He also once again expressed 'anguish' at the ongoing violence and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

“There is no other choice, but to return back to the path of diplomacy and dialogue,” New Delhi's envoy to the UN, T S Tirumurti, said, even as India once again abstained from voting at the Security Council on a procedural resolution to convene a rare emergency special session of the General Assembly of the international organisation on Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

He reiterated New Delhi's call for an immediate cessation of violence and an end to hostilities, thus nudging Moscow to stop military operations against the East European nation.

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New Delhi has also decided to send humanitarian assistance to war-torn Ukraine, which has been resisting an invasion by Russia since February 24. Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told journalists on Monday that the Government of India would send medicines and other essentials to the East European nation following a request Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla received from Kyiv's envoy to New Delhi, Igor Polikha, for humanitarian assistance.

Polikha earlier on the day told journalists that he had conveyed Ukraine's request for humanitarian assistance from India during a meeting on Sunday.

New Delhi has been cautiously avoiding siding with the US and other Western nations on the issue of Russia's military build-up around Ukraine. It has been calling for resolving the crisis through diplomacy and dialogue. After President Vladimir Putin ordered launch of the military offensives against Ukraine, India subtly changed tone and tacitly conveyed its disapproval to Russia. But New Delhi's decades-old friendly ties with Moscow stopped it from directly condemning Russia for invasion of Ukraine.

Not only India, but China and the United Arab Emirates also abstained from voting on the latest resolution at the UN Security Council early on Sunday. It was of course opposed by Russia, but finally adopted by the council, with 11 members – three permanent members and eight non-permanent members – voting in support of it. India is currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council.

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The resolution adopted by the Security Council cleared the way for the UN General Assembly to hold an emergency session – for the 11th time since 1950 – to discuss Russia's offensive against Ukraine.

Since the draft text of the resolution calling for the UN General Assembly session was procedural, Russia – a permanent member like China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States – could not exercise veto, like it did to block a Security Council resolution a couple of days ago.

India, China and the UAE had also abstained from voting on the resolution, which had not been adopted by the Security Council on February 25.

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