At UNGA, India Votes In Favor Of Palestine’s Bid To Become Full Member

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, a resolution asking for Palestine’s bid to become a full member has been passed by the UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) with 143 votes in favor, including India, and nine countries voting against it with 25 abstentions, including the United Kingdom.
The draft resolution placed before the General Assembly said that Palestine fulfills all the criteria to become a full member of the United Nations and recommended that the Security Council “review” the matter positively.
The resolution was presented by the United Arab Emirates, as Chair of the Arab Group in May. The 193-member General Assembly met in the morning in an emergency special session and voted for the Arab Group resolution ‘Admission of new Members to the United Nations,’ in support of the State of Palestine’s full membership in the UN.
The resolution read, “The State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations and should therefore be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”
It also asked the Security Council to “reconsider the matter favorably, in the light of this determination.”
India was the first non-Arab country to recognize the PLO or the Palestinian Liberation Organization, led by Yasser Arafat, as the sole party representing the Palestinian people way back in 1974.
India was also one of the first nations to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988. India also officially opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which was later shifted to Ramallah in 2003.
Earlier, the Palestinian application for full membership of the United Nations Security Council was vetoed by the United States.
At that time, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, had said, “I would like to state here at the very outset that in keeping with India’s long-standing position, we hope that this would be reconsidered in due course and that Palestine’s endeavor to become a member of the United Nations will get endorsed.”
An addendum to the resolution also stated that the additional rights and privileges of participation of the State of Palestine will be effective as of the 79th session of the General Assembly that begins in September this year.
It includes the chance to be seated among member states in alphabetical order as well as the right to make statements, and the chance for the delegation of the State of Palestine to be elected as officers in the plenary and the Main Committees of the UNGA. It will also enable the Palestinian Authority for full and effective participation in UN conferences and international conferences and meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly.
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