Srinagar, Publish Date: Dec 22 2017
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday hailed the India’s vote in the UN against the US move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“Very proud to see that India joined over 100 countries at the UN to vote against recognising Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel,” said Mehbooba, in a post on Twitter.
The vote, she said, affirmed India’s stand on Palestine. “This vote further reaffirms our stand & support to Palestine,” she tweeted.
India joined the UN majority in voting for a General Assembly resolution criticising US President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel and move Washington’s embassy there.
The resolution that was passed by a two-thirds majority on Thursday demanded Washington comply with Security Council decisions against changing the status of Jerusalem and declared US and Israeli action on the city “null and void”.
It, however, only expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem”, stopping short of naming the US or condemning it outright.
Defying Trump’s threats to cut off aid to countries that voted for the resolution, 128 countries voted for the resolution, while nine countries joined the US and Israel in voting against it.
An unusually large number — 35 countries — abstained, and 21 others were absent, showing that Trump’s threats had some effect.
US Permanent Representative Nikki Haley repeated Trump’s warning on aid before the vote describing support for it an “insult” to her country.
“We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the UN,” she said. “And we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”
