by AVAY SHUKLA
Under external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, sitting on the fence has become an essential ingredient of our foreign policy, thinly disguised as “national interest”.
We did it again last Thursday. For the seventh time, India abstained on a UN vote that asked Russia to cease hostilities and leave Ukraine. It was, of course, not unexpected, because, under external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, sitting on the fence has become an essential ingredient of our foreign policy, thinly disguised as “national interest”.
We are doing the same thing on China, Myanmar, and Afghanistan, but it is our position on Ukraine which makes me sick to my stomach.
Cutting through all that NATO and “sphere of influence” and “India’s strategic interest” jargon, even Jaishankar will admit that Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine: it was Russia which sent in its troops and tanks into Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Ukraine responded militarily. So far, so good: two armies fighting each other, a complex historical background, absolutely no reason for India to take sides till this point, let NATO-Russia-Ukraine sort out a problem of their own making.
But then Russia changed the nature of the war: on the military back foot, it started targeting towns, civilian infrastructure like hospitals, apartments, power stations, even schools, and continues to do so even today. This is in complete violation of the Geneva conventions and international laws and conventions. It is no longer just fighting the Ukrainian army, it is systematically destroying a country, decimating its population and obliterating it from the map. It can do so with impunity because Ukraine does not have the military capability and hardware to strike within Russia, and its civilians are sitting ducks in a firing range.
The Wire for more
(Thanks to Razi Azmi)