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Vote on Core Group Resolution on 23 March: India won’t commit injustice to SL says Sources

19 Mar 2021

India has asserted that Sri Lanka need not be concerned about India committing any injustice towards the country at this year’s United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) 46th Session, official sources told The Morning yesterday (18). A vote on the resolution that was tabled last week on Sri Lanka by the Core Group of Countries on Sri Lanka is scheduled for next week, and it is widely speculated that India may abstain from voting on the resolution, which would be a blow to the Sri Lankan Government. “India has assured the Foreign Ministry Secretary, Prof. Jayanath Colombage, that it would not commit any injustices towards Sri Lanka at the session,” our sources told us. According to Prof. Colombage, who spoke to The Morning earlier this week, the resolution submitted on Sri Lanka by the Core Group (comprising the UK, Germany, Canada, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Malawi) would be taken up for a vote on 23 March. Approximately, 40 countries have currently co-sponsored the resolution, while Pakistan leads the bloc of countries in favour of Sri Lanka. Although President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had officially reached out to India for support at this year’s session in Geneva, Switzerland, India is yet to officially commit its stance. India voted for three of the seven resolutions adopted on Sri Lanka by the Council in 2009, 2012, and 2013, respectively. However, it abstained from voting in 2014, whilst the three resolutions post-2015 were co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and thus did not require a vote. Sri Lanka needs the support of 24 countries from the 47 Members in the Council to defeat the adoption of the resolution. The 46th UNHRC Regular Session, held virtually this year due to travel restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, would continue until 23 March. The vote on the resolution, titled “Promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka”, would take place on 23 March.


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