India’s directional change

India’s decision to abstain on a July 3 vote at the UN Human Rights Council is at odds with its traditional voting pattern in UN forums against Israeli military actions against Palestinian civilians. But it is hardly at odds with the general directional change in the outlook of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards Israel — a solicitous turn which appears to go beyond India’s weapons purchase relationship with Tel Aviv. There seems an ideological concord going.

The vote pertained to a UN inquiry report on the assault on Gaza by Israel in 2014 in which nearly 1,500 Palestinian civilians were killed. The report blamed Israel for “extensive use of weapons with a wide kill and injury radius”. It also criticised the Palestinian militant group Hamas for killing six Israeli civilians. The voting motion asked Israel and Palestine to cooperate with the International Criminal Court. It also asked Israel to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations, which was Israel’s real concern.

The US backed Israel, voting negative. But EU voted positive. India abstained in the company of Kenya, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Macedonia. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had phoned Mr Modi before the vote. But the external affairs ministry statement on the episode was disingenuous. It said India abstained because it “generally” does not back motions that are linked to the ICC, to whose creation it is not a signatory. In 2011, in the UN Security Council, India backed a vote against Libya which alluded to the ICC.