The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: India on July 11 abstained on a resolution approved by the UN General Assembly, which called on Russia to withdraw its personnel from Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and return it to Ukrainian control.
The resolution, introduced by Ukraine, was approved by 99 votes in favour and 60 abstentions. There were nine votes against the resolution, including Russia and North Korea.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station is Europe’s largest nuclear plant. It was seized by Russia a few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The International Atomic Energy Agency head had recent fighting had brought the prospect of a nuclear accident “dangerously close”.
The text of the resolution called for Russia to “urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and immediately return the plant to the full control of the sovereign and competent authorities of Ukraine”.
It also called on Russia to unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.
When introducing the resolution, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative, Sergiy Kyslytsya, warned that any incident at the facility could have catastrophic consequences and claimed that Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been intentionally incorporated into Russia’s military operations.
Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy accused the Ukrainians of launching attacks on the nuclear power plant in April. He dismissed the resolution as a “cover-up” for a “pseudo-nuclear” agenda, arguing that it was an attempt to advance purely political issues.
India’s abstention is consistent with its voting history at all resolutions on Ukraine at the United Nation. It has refrained from publicly condemning Russia’s invasion, but has generally called for cessation of hostilities and diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war.
India had taken part in the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland, but had not endorsed the final declaration as Russia, had not been part of the meeting.
Earlier this week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Russia for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war. On the same that he arrived in Moscow, Ukrainian cities were hit by missile strikes from Russia, including one which struck a children’s hospital. The Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskky had vehemently criticised Modi’s hug of Putin, describing it as a “devastating blow to peace efforts”.