Shoulder to shoulder at the United Nations
September 26, 2014
Ajay Kamalakaran
India and Russia have repeatedly backed each other’s positions and cooperated at the UN, since the intergovernmental organisation was established in 1945.
Several heads of state are converging in New York City for the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly. While Narendra Modi will be addressing the session, Vladimir Putin has decided to give it a pass this year. It’s a well-known fact that members of the Russian and Indian permanent missions to the UN enjoy warm relations, largely reflecting the diplomatic ties between the two countries. Russia has clearly and consistently maintained that India deserves to be a permanent and veto-wielding member of the United Nations Security Council.
It’s at the United Nations that the friendship between the countries has been repeatedly put to test, with positive outcomes. In March of this year, when Ukraine proposed a resolution terming Crimea’s reintegration with Russia as illegal, resisting pressure from the U.S. and European Union. This abstinence was the latest in a series of measures at the UN where the two countries kept each other’s interests in mind.
It is a well-known fact that the Soviet Union backed India on the Kashmir issue.