India, along with 168 nations, votes in favour of COVID-19 resolution
India, along side 168 nations, voted in favour of a COVID-19 resolution within the UN General Assembly that reaffirms international cooperation to reply to at least one of the best global challenges and acknowledges the planet Health Organisation’s key leadership role in responding to the outbreak, a reference the US objected to because it opposed the resolution.
The Omnibus Resolution on Comprehensive and Coordinated Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic was overwhelmingly adopted by the 193-member General Assembly Friday, with 169 nations voting in favour of the resolution that recognised the COVID-19 pandemic together of the best global challenges within the history of the United Nations .
The US and Israel voted against the resolution and Ukraine and Hungary abstained.
India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu tweeted “India votes in favour of the #COVID-19 omnibus resolution within the General Assembly recognising the pandemic together of the best global challenges that involves a worldwide response supported unity, solidarity and multilateral cooperation
The resolution reaffirms its commitment to international cooperation, multilateralism and solidarity in the least levels and because the only way for the planet to effectively answer global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and their consequences, and acknowledges the key leadership role of the planet Health Organisation and therefore the fundamental role of the United Nations system in catalysing and coordinating the great global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Afghanistan’s UN envoy Adela Raz and Croatian Ambassador Ivan Simonovic were co-coordinators of the extensive and wide-ranging resolution, the third adopted by the overall Assembly this year on the pandemic that has killed over 900,000 people and infected 28.3 million globally.
The resolution isn’t legally binding.
General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande said the omnibus resolution may be a powerful and impressive text and it reflects the collective will of Member States to beat this unprecedented challenge as nations, united. Negotiations were intense but cooperation prevailed.
The resolution urged member states to “enable all countries to possess unhindered timely access to quality, safe, efficacious and affordable diagnosis, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines, and essential health technologies for the COVID-19 response and recognised the role of in depth immunisation against COVID-19 as a worldwide public good for health in preventing, containing and stopping transmission so as to bring the pandemic to an end, once safe, quality, efficacious, effective, accessible and affordable vaccines are available.
It supported Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ appeal for an instantaneous global ceasefire, including to assist create corridors for life-saving aid, open windows for diplomacy of dialogue.
It called upon political and non secular leaders to market inclusion and unity in response to the pandemic and to stop and take strong action against racism, xenophobia, hate speech, violence, discrimination, including on the idea aged and stigmatisation.