Bhutan broke ranks with India and joined the majority of countries in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in calling for respecting Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and said it is deeply concerned by the escalating conflict in Ukraine. 

“This is the first time in 40 years that the provisions of the United Nations for peace resolution are being invoked,” Bhutan’s Permanent Representative to UN Doma Tshering said while participating in the debate in the UNGA’s resolution on demanding Russia to immediately cease its military operation in Ukraine. 

“Today, core principles of the UN Charter and the rules-based international order are at stake, endangering international peace and security far beyond the borders of Ukraine and Europe,” she said, adding that even Bhutan, 1000 miles away from the conflict, can feel the reverberation of the conflict.  

On Wednesday, the adoption of the UNGA resolution with 141 votes in favor— more than two-thirds of those voting— comes as a diplomatic blow to Moscow. India, however, abstained.  

“The threat or use of force and acts of aggression against another sovereign state can never be accepted. We cannot condone the unilateral redrawing of international borders,” Tshering said in her speech in the UNGA.  

Bhutan also expressed its regret at the reports of growing numbers of casualties and loss of innocent lives as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. This was a rare occasion when Bhutan, whose foreign and security policies are guided by India, did not vote along with India on an international issue and took its own independent line. 

In the South Asian region, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka abstained, while Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives voted in favor of the resolution. 
 
(SAM)