India goes against Russia at UNGA, rejects demand for secret ballot on Ukraine

India voted in favour of a public vote on the draft resolution along with more than 100 other countries, rejecting Russia's plan for a secret ballot in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on a draft resolution to denounce Moscow's "illegal" annexation of four areas of Ukraine.

Russia insisted on a secret ballot vote for the resolution. After 107 UN members, including India, voted in favour of a recorded vote, Moscow's request for a secret ballot was denied. Just 13 countries supported Russia's request for a secret ballot, and 39 others stayed silent. China and Russia were two of the nations that abstained.

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On October 10, the 193-member UN General Assembly voted on an Albanian motion requesting a recorded vote on a draft resolution that would denounce Russia's "illegal so-called referendums" and "attempted illegal annexation" of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya.

India was one of the 100 countries that voted against Moscow's appeal in the recorded vote. Russia disputed the general assembly president's decision after the motion to hold a recorded vote was approved.

Then, Russia asked for the choice to adopt the motion put forth by Albania for a recorded vote to be reconsidered. 104 countries, including India, voted against the motion's reconsideration, while 16 voted in favour and 34 abstained, and the General Assembly ultimately chose not to do so.

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Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative, claimed that the UN membership had become a party to an appalling deception in which the general assembly president, regrettably, had a significant role.

"We were not given the floor to make a point of order (the indicator light at our seat is still on), our statement was distorted, and now UN member states are being robbed of their right to express their opinion freely,” Nebenzia said.

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The legitimacy of the general assembly and the United Nations as a whole is being undermined by this unprecedented deception. Russia decided not to participate in the vote given these circumstances, he added.

India chose to abstain in September, when the US and Albania proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution to denounce Moscow's "illegal referenda" and invalidate the annexation of four Ukrainian areas.

(With agency inputs)