India voted in favor of two significant United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions addressing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan Heights. The resolutions, adopted with substantial support from member states, emphasize the need for peace, adherence to international law, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories.
The first resolution, 'Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine', was tabled by Senegal and adopted by the 193-member General Assembly on Tuesday. It secured 157 votes in favor, including India’s, while eight nations, Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and the United States opposed it. Seven countries, including Cameroon, Czechia, Ecuador, and Ukraine, abstained.
The resolution called for the immediate achievement of a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in West Asia and the withdrawal of Israel from territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem. It reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and an independent state and reiterated support for the two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace within pre-1967 borders.
The General Assembly demanded that Israel cease all settlement activities, evacuate settlers from occupied Palestinian territories, and end measures maintaining the occupation. The resolution rejected any attempts to alter the territorial or demographic status of Gaza, stressing that it remains an integral part of the Palestinian state.
India also supported a resolution demanding Israel withdraw from the occupied Syrian Golan to the borders of June 1967. The resolution was adopted with 97 votes in favor, 64 abstentions, and eight votes against, including by Australia, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It expressed concern over Israel's continued occupation and settlement activities in the region since 1967, declaring the imposition of Israeli laws and administration on the Syrian Golan as null and void.
Both resolutions emphasized the importance of an immediate cessation of violence, military attacks, and acts of provocation in the region. The General Assembly urged Israel to comply with international law and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, calling for an end to its unlawful presence in occupied territories.
With PTI inputs