NEW YORK: India has conveyed to the United States its objection to the linking of its voting at the United Nations to Indo US bilateral relations.
‘The linkage runs counter to India’s nonaligned policy, the Indian Ambassador in Washington, Mr. Pratap K. Kaul, has said.
The US State Department presents A report to Congress every year on how a country has voted on “key” issues of American interest at the United Nations. These are then linked to bilateral ties in Congress and outside.
Mr. Kaul told the US Government that India has reservations on the question of linking the voting record to bilateral ties. The format of the report gave a distorted picture, he told US officials.
Moves are now underway in Congress to get the format of the report amended. The prime mover in this regard is Senator Edward Kennedy.
In a letter to Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kaul recalled that the State Department report for 1988 on India’s voting patterns on issues identified by Washington as ‘key’ items has said that India had voted the same way as the US 8.4 per cent times.
Mr. Kaul reaffirmed India’s reservations on the question of the linkage between votes at the U.N and bilateral ties.
“Our most fundamental objection is that this linkage runs counter to the very basic principle of our policy of nonalignment i.e. that decisions on international issues are taken on the basis of the merits of each case and not influenced by any bloc considerations,” he added.
The 10 key resolutions in the UN identified last year by the State department related to the condemnation of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, criticism of human Rights abuses in Afghanistan, acceptance of Israeli credentials by the UN General Assembly, condemnation of foreign interference in Kampuchea, criticism of US trade embargo against Nicaragua, criticism of Washington’s policy towards apartheid in South Africa, the budget of the United Nations, criticism of the US policy on West Asia and human rights in Iran.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 7, 1988
