India voted for resolution on Palestine by Arab states, not OIC
Palestine-Israel-India, Politics, 7/8/2006

India's Ministry of External Affairs clarified that it had voted for a resolution which was moved by the Group of Arab States and not the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on the deteriorating situation in Palestine at a special session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva early this week.

Media reports here had said India had voted on an OIC resolution against Israel on the conflict in Palestine.

Describing the reports as having a 'fairly distorted perspective', an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said the special session of the HRC was called not by the OIC but by the Group of Arab States led by Tunisia.

Asserting that India has a 'traditional position' on Palestine which it had followed in international fora, the spokesman said India had also been making official statements from time to time including three in the last 3-4 weeks on its position on the developments in West Asia and voting in the HRC was in keeping with these positions.

He said the call for the special session was supported by several countries across the political spectrum. About 29 affirmative votes supported the call for a special session including China, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, several members of the GRULAC group that is the Latin American group, and India.

The special session was held on July 5 and the resolution at the special session was adopted again by 29 votes. These included again China, Russia, most of GRULAC, Sri Lanka, South Africa.

The HRC passed a resolution demanding a stop to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The HRC also said it would send a fact-finding mission to investigate the human rights situation in Palestine.

Previous Stories:
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  UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission to occupied Palestinian territory   (7/7/2006)
  Palestinian children not sure if international law can protect them   (7/7/2006)
  Ghandi grandson deplores Racial Separation Wall   (8/25/2004)
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