UNSC: India abstains from voting on the US-sponsored resolution allowing aid to sanctioned entities

UNSC: India did not cast a vote on a US-sponsored resolution at the UN Security Council on Friday that authorised humanitarian help for entities around the world that had been sanctioned, including the terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, which have bases in Pakistan.

The resolution, which offered “humanitarian carve-out” to organisations subject to UN sanctions, was presented to the UNSC by the US and Ireland on Friday. The exception or exception is fundamentally a humanitarian one.

With the exception of India, every member of the UNSC backed the resolution. The only nation to do so was India, which this month has the rotating UNSC president.

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What did the adopted UNSC resolution state?

The adopted UNSC resolution stated that the UNSC decides that, “the provision, processing or payment of funds, other financial assets, or economic resources, or the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance or to support other activities that support basic human needs… are permitted and are not a violation of the asset freezes imposed by [the] Council or its Sanctions Committees”.

This exception covers a wide range of organisations, including specific NGOs, UN funds, programmes, and agencies as well as humanitarian organisations with observer status before the General Assembly.

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India’s permanent representative explained the vote

Ruchira Kamboj, India’s permanent representative, explained the vote by stating that this resolution offers a carve-out from sanctions in support of the prompt delivery of humanitarian supplies or to support other initiatives addressing fundamental human needs. She referred to Pakistan’s support for LeT and JeM and said, “However, India will call for caution and due diligence to be exercised while extending humanitarian assistance to proscribed entities under 1267, who continue to thrive with full state hospitality in territories universally acknowledged as terrorist havens by the international community.”

She explained, “Our concerns emanate from proven instances of terrorist groups taking full advantage of such humanitarian carve-outs, and making a mockery of sanction regimes, including that of the 1267 Sanctions Committee. There have also been several cases of terrorist groups in our neighborhood, including those listed by this Council, re-incarnating themselves as humanitarian organizations and civil society groups precisely to evade these sanctions. These terrorist organizations use the umbrella of the humanitarian assistance space to raise funds and recruit fighters.” 

“We reiterate, as we did, during the negotiations, that under no circumstances, the garb of humanitarian cover intended to be provided by these exemptions, should be misused by proscribed terrorist groups to expand their terror activities in the region and beyond. More importantly, such exemptions must not facilitate ‘mainstreaming’ of terror entities in the political space in our region. Due diligence and extreme caution in the implementation of this resolution, therefore is an absolute must,” Kamboj remarked.

“For this very reason, India had sought in the text of the resolution a proactive role for the 1267 Monitoring Team, coupled with robust reporting standards and mechanisms. We regret that these specific concerns were not fully addressed in the final text adopted today. We hope that this shortcoming will be corrected in the future…,” Kamboj said while defending the vote.

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