India News | OPCW Moves Motion Against Syria, India Abstains
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. India has abstained from a West-supported move seeking action against Syria for use of chemical weapons saying the issue needs to be resolved through a process of engagement and dialogue with the country, officials said on Friday.
New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) India has abstained from a West-supported move seeking action against Syria for use of chemical weapons saying the issue needs to be resolved through a process of engagement and dialogue with the country, officials said on Friday.
India and eight other countries -- Pakistan, South Africa, Nigeria, Sudan, UAE, Algeria, Bangladesh and Kenya -- abstained on a draft decision on 'Addressing the Possession and Use of Chemical Weapons by the Syrian Arab Republic' at the Hague-based headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Thursday, the officials said.
The decision moved by France and other western countries was adopted during the 94th session of the executive council by a 29-3 vote with Russia, China and Iran opposing, they said.
The officials said India has chosen the middle path by abstaining and has not sided either with western countries or with the three nations that opposed it.
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Permanent Representative of India to the OPCW, Venu Rajamony told the executive council that India decided to abstain because it believes the issues mentioned in the draft decision need to be resolved through a process of engagement and dialogue with the state party.
The decision calls upon Syria to declare the facilities where chemical weapons were developed, produced, stockpiled and operationally stored for delivery, and also to declare all of the chemical weapons it currently possesses as well as chemical weapons production facilities and other related facilities.
It also calls upon Syria to resolve all outstanding issues regarding its initial declaration of its chemical weapons stockpile and programme.
Ambassador Rajamony said India has an impeccable record on non-proliferation of chemical weapons and has supported various measures for strengthening the Convention.
“It believes that the OPCW and its Technical Secretariat have served the convention well. Any use of chemical weapons would be in complete disregard of humanity, and reprehensible. India is firmly opposed to any use of chemical weapons anywhere, at any time, by anybody, under any circumstances. The perpetrators of such abhorrent acts must be held accountable,” he said.
Rajamony said India has always attached high importance to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which embodies the global norm against the use of chemical weapons, and stands for its full, effective and non-discriminatory implementation.
“India has also extended its full support to the OPCW and its Technical Secretariat. We are close to achieving the objective of universal adherence to the CWC, which is critical to achieving a universal, comprehensive, verifiable non-proliferation of chemical weapons. We urge the remaining States that are not parties to the convention to consider acceding to the convention at the earliest,” he said.
Referring to the reports of the Director-General on progress in the elimination of the Syrian Chemical Weapons Programme, Rajamony said India has consistently urged and encouraged active engagement between the Syrian Arab Republic and the OPCW to resolve all outstanding issues concerning Syria's initial declaration and the subsequent amendments.
“We welcome and encourage cooperation between the Syrian Arab Republic and the technical secretariat and hope that the resumption of the high-level consultation, currently affected by the COVID-19, would address all outstanding issues,” the Indian diplomat added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)