India abstained from voting on a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) seeking to delegitimize the military junta of Myanmar and thereby prohibit the supply of arms to the country.

The government justified its stance citing lack of consultation with Myanmar’s neighbouring countries and other regional nations in this “hastily” introduced resolution which was adopted by the UNGA with 119 votes in favour.

“This resolution was tabled in the UN General Assembly without adequate consultations with neighbours and regional countries,” TS Tirumurti, India’s permanent representative to the UN, was quoted in a report by the Times of India.

Tirumurti added, “This is not only unhelpful but may also prove counter-productive to the efforts of the Asean to find a solution to the current situation in Myanmar.”

Thus, India joined the likes of Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Russia amongst the 36 countries to have abstained from the voting process.

The representative asserted that India remained cognizant of the serious impact of political instability and its potential to expand beyond Myanmar’s borders.

He reiterated that India had engaged in a constructive and pragmatic manner to share its suggestions to parties that had piloted the resolution. However, Tirumuti mentioned that India’s views were not reflected in the draft that went up for resolution eventually, thus evoking the given response.

It should be noted that ever since the military coup in Myanmar, India has maintained vigil and walked on a tight diplomatic rope given the former’s ties with China and India’s own security interests in the Northeast.