India abstained from voting on a resolution critical of Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that seeks to create a central international database to allow future prosecutions of war crimes.
However, the resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was adopted after 22 of the Council’s 47 members voted in favour of it.
The resolution, sponsored by a core group of the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, was approved by 22 votes in favour, 11 against, and 14 abstentions during the UNHRC’s 46th ordinary session.
This is India’s second abstention from voting on a resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC since 2014. In 2012 and 2013, India voted in favour of resolutions that were critical of Sri Lanka. At the 2009 special session, it also voted in favour of a resolution introduced by Sri Lanka.
