India has recently abstained itself from voting on the resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to set up a Commission of Inquiry on human rights violation in occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem and Israel.
Israel described the resolution as an attempt to “whitewash crimes committed by the terror organisation – Hamas”. The resolution is adopted with 24 countries voting in favour, while 9 countries voted against the resolution. India was among the 14 countries that abstained itself from voting.
With the majority voting in favour, the UNHRC decided to create an open-ended international investigation into the violations during the recent Israel-Palestine conflict. The inter-governmental body also demanded an investigation into the “systematic” abuses in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel.
To this, the Israel foreign ministry immediately said it was not going to cooperate with the probe. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even condemned the UNHRC’s decision as ‘shameful’ and called it as “yet another example of the Council’s blatant anti-Israel obsession.”
Meanwhile, India said it firmly believes that the dialogue is the only option that can effectively address the issues in the region and its people. In addition to this, Indian permanent representative I M Pandey further added that dialogue between Israel and Palestine should be aimed at realising the establishment of the two States living side by side in peace within secure and recognised borders.