India Backs UN's Syria Resolution, Russia, China Veto It

Yusuf

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Is expecting at least the first 4-5 page of a thread to not go OT asking for too much?
 

Mr.Ryu

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Russia and China has done the right thing, If UN passes resolution to end protest by showing 2000+ have been dead due to government crackdown we have seen how much have died in NATO crackdown, Good move i would say :)
 

asianobserve

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India is again at the wrong side of the divide. Haven't it learned anything from its Lybian debacle? It should always side with the winners.
 

pmaitra

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India is again at the wrong side of the divide. Haven't it learned anything from its Lybian debacle? It should always side with the winners.
With Russia and PRC throwing their weight behind Assad, can you tell me for sure who the winner will be?

Does this ring a bell?
 

Yusuf

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India is again at the wrong side of the divide. Haven't it learned anything from its Lybian debacle? It should always side with the winners.
Problem is that India fails to recognize which is the side to be on and make it the winner in the future so that it suits our interest.
 

amoy

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India is again at the wrong side of the divide. Haven't it learned anything from its Lybian debacle? It should always side with the winners.
why do u assume that's a wrong or loser side? the "mainstream" media covers overwhelmingly Assad losing peoples support or 'massacres'. is it all true? from my read Al Assad is still enjoying popularity to a great extent from Alawi, and Sunni mid-class. So long as, Internally, Assad holds grip of military (Alawi dominant) and implements a gradual reform in transition to a 'democracy', and externally Russia + China are blocking any sanctions or mil. intervention attempts in addition to Iran's backing, Al Assad may still hold on and fare such a crisis out as a 'winner'.

Similarly earlier in Bahrain, the Monarch (minority Sunni ) succeeded in retaining power by ruthlessly cracking down on dissidents (majority Shia) thanks to external support. Who has given a damn to that?
 

asianobserve

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With Russia and PRC throwing their weight behind Assad, can you tell me for sure who the winner will be?

Does this ring a bell?

Last time I checked Russia and China also threw their weight around Saddam in 2003. And France... That's why there's was no second UN resolution... Georgia on the other hand did it to themselves, the West could not be expected to start WW3 with Russia on the wrong foot.
 

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Russia, China veto UN resolution on Syria killings

UNITED NATIONS: Russia and China vetoed on Saturday an Arab and Western-backed resolution at the UN Security Council calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down over his bloody crackdown on a popular uprising.

The setback in diplomatic efforts to defuse the revolt peacefully came after world leaders and Syrian opposition activists accused Assad's forces of killing hundreds of people in a bombardment of the city of Homs, the bloodiest night in 11 months of upheaval in the pivotal Arab country.

Shortly before the Security Council voted, US President Barack Obama denounced the "unspeakable assault" on Homs, demanded that Assad leave power immediately and called for UN action against Assad's "relentless brutality".

"Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children, in Homs through shelling and other indiscriminate violence, and Syrian forces continue to prevent hundreds of injured civilians from seeking medical help," Obama said in a statement. "Any government that brutalises and massacres its people does not deserve to govern."

He and other Western and Arab leaders put unprecedented pressure on Assad's veto-wielding ally Russia to allow the Security Council to pass a resolution backing an Arab League call for Assad to transfer powers to a deputy.

But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday it had not been possible to work constructively with Russia ahead of the vote, even though military intervention in Syria - fiercely opposed by Moscow - had been absolutely ruled out.

"I thought that there might be some ways to bridge, even at this last moment, a few of the concerns that the Russians had. I offered to work in a constructive manner to do so. That has not been possible," she told reporters at the Munich Security Conference.

Moscow said before the vote that the resolution was not "hopeless", but its wording needed to be altered to avoid "taking sides in a civil war". Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was still possible to reach consensus.

But US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said amendments that Russia had proposed were "unacceptable".

After what US officials called "vigorous" talks between Clinton and Lavrov, Moscow announced that its foreign minister would fly to Syria in three days to meet Assad.

France called the Homs assault a "massacre" and a "crime against humanity". Turkey said hundreds had been killed and the United Nations must act. Tunisia expelled the Syrian ambassador, and the flag above its embassy was brought down.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 237 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests and one of the bloodiest episodes in the "Arab Spring" of revolts that have swept the region.

Residents said Syrian forces began shelling the Khalidiya neighbourhood at around 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses were completely destroyed with families inside.

"We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads," said Waleed, a resident of Khalidiya.

"The morning has come and we have discovered more bodies, bodies are on the streets," he said. "Some are still under the rubble. Our movement is better but there is little we can do without ambulances and other things."

An activist in the neighbourhood contacted by Reuters said residents were using primitive tools to rescue people. They feared many were buried under rubble.

"We are not getting any help, there are no ambulances or anything. We are removing the people with our own hands," he said, adding there were only two field hospitals treating the wounded. Each one had a capacity to deal with 30 people, but he estimated the total number of wounded at 500.

"We have dug out at least 100 bodies so far, they are placed in the two mosques."

A third Khalidiya resident, speaking by telephone with wailing and cries of "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) audible in the background, said at least 40 corpses had been retrieved from streets and damaged buildings.

CONDEMNATION

As news of the violence spread, angry crowds of Syrians stormed their country's embassies in Cairo, London, Berlin and Kuwait and protested in other cities.

Syria denied shelling Homs and said Internet video of corpses was staged. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access.

The official Syrian account was disregarded across the globe, where international condemnation was thunderous.

French foreign minister Alain Juppe said: "The Syrian authorities have jumped a new hurdle in savagery: the massacre in Homs is a crime against humanity and those responsible will have to answer for it."

In remarks aimed at Moscow, he said any country that blocked U.N. action would bear a "heavy responsibility in history".

Tunisia announced it was expelling the Syrian ambassador and revoking recognition of Assad's government. The head of a committee of parliamentarians from Arab states said Arab countries should expel Syrian ambassadors and cut ties.

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said: "If the Syrian administration is given the understanding that the current situation of hundreds of people dying daily can continue and the UN will not take a stance against it, the atmosphere of clashes will increase more."

It was not immediately clear what had prompted Syrian forces to launch such an intense bombardment, just as diplomats at the Security Council were discussing the draft resolution on Syria.

Russia gave conflicting signals about its intentions before the vote. In an interview early on Saturday, Lavrov suggested Moscow would cast a veto if the resolution was presented without amendments.

"If they want another scandal for themselves in the Security Council, then we probably cannot stop them," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying. But as events marched on during the day with many of the world's top security and foreign affairs officials gathered at a conference in Munich, Lavrov said: "We are not saying that this resolution is hopeless."

Russia objected that the resolution contained steps against Assad, but not against his armed opponents, Lavrov said. "Unless you do it both ways, you are taking sides in a civil war."

Clinton told the conference: "As a tyrant in Damascus brutalises his own people, America and Europe stand shoulder to shoulder. We are united, alongside the Arab League, in demanding an end to the bloodshed and a democratic future for Syria."

Russia has balked at any Security Council language that would open to door to "regime change" in Syria, a rare Middle East ally where Moscow operates a naval base and sells billions of dollars in advanced weapons.

Clinton and Lavrov met at the conference for what a US State Department official called "a very vigorous discussion".

"The secretary made clear that...the United States feels strongly that the UN Security Council should vote today."

HOUSES ON FIRE

Video footage on the Internet showed at least eight bodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blown off. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the footage was filmed.

Syria's state news agency SANA denied Homs was shelled, accusing rebels of killing people and presenting them as casualties for propaganda purposes before the UN vote.

Russia, China veto UN resolution on Syria killings - The Times of India
 

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India Backs UN's Syria Resolution, Russia, China Veto It

Russia and China today vetoed an Arab League-backed resolution at the UNSC that called on the Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, while India along with the US and 12 others backed the move.

France, Britain and Pakistan also voted in favor of the resolution aimed at putting pressure on Syria to end its 11-month-long crackdown on anti-government protests that has killed more than 200 people in one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising against Assad's regime.

This is the second time that Russia and China have carried out their double veto after the first one on October 5.

Ahead of the vote, President Barack Obama blamed the Syrian government of "unspeakable assault" on its civilians in the city of Homs, as he demanded that President Bashar Assad step down.

"I strongly condemn the Syrian government's unspeakable assault against the people of Homs and I offer my deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones," Obama said in Washington.

He said Assad has "no right to lead Syria, and has lost all legitimacy with his people and the international community".

The Human Rights Watch immediately condemned the UNSC resolution, terming the Russian and Chinese decision as irresponsible and praised India, which so far was seen siding with Moscow and Beijing on this issue, for voting in favour of the failed resolution.

"Vetoes by Moscow and Beijing four months ago were irresponsible," it said in a statement.

"Vetoes by Russia and China are not only a slap in the face of the Arab League, they are also a betrayal of the Syrian people," it added.

"In the end, by supporting this resolution, South Africa, India and Pakistan, rose to the occasion. They finally saw through Assad's lies and sided with the Syrian people," the rights watchdog said.

The HRW said the failure of this resolution should not provide illusory comfort to the Assad government as most countries around the world and in Syria's neighborhood are repulsed by its bloody repression campaign.

"The Russian government is not only unapologetically arming a government that is killing its own people, but also providing it with diplomatic cover," it alleged.

news.outlookindia.com | India Backs UN's Syria Resolution, Russia, China Veto It
 

The Messiah

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Good move by us. We satisfy the west whilst what we wanted is also done thanks to russians and chinis.

win win scenario for us :D
 

Armand2REP

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India finally comes to its senses. Barbarous dictators cannot be tolerated.
 

KS

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If 1.2 billion Indians can be fooled daily by these babus/netas what are few hundred diplomats across the world,and that too once or twice a year..

BTW I thought India had abstained from the resolution..but had it actually voted in support of it ?
 
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The Messiah

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If 1.2 billion Indians can be fooled daily by these babus/netas what are few hundred diplomats across the world,and that too once or twice a year..

BTW I thought India had abstained from the resolution..but had it actually voted in support of it ?
our vote is meanigless so why stick our neck out ? it got vetoed anyways by russia and china so job done.

like i said...win win for us.
 

pmaitra

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Russia and China veto resolution on Syria at UN

Russia and China veto resolution on Syria at UN

4 February 2012 | BBC News

An Arab and Western-backed resolution condemning the violent crackdown in Syria has been vetoed at the UN Security Council by Russia and China.

They rejected the draft as "unbalanced" hours after activists accused troops of killing at least 55 people at Homs.

Western countries said the move would encourage Syria's government to continue its violent clampdown.

A BBC correspondent who entered Homs with rebels after the vote says gun and shell fire can be heard in the city.

'Craven tyrant'
The draft resolution, supported by all 13 other members of the Security Council, had adopted an Arab League call for a "Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system".

Russia said it singled out the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and did not containing measures against armed opposition groups.

Proposed Russian amendments to the text were described as "unacceptable" by the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice.

Ms Rice condemned the vetoes as "shameful". It showed, she said, how Russia and China aimed to "sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant".

"Any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands," Ms Rice added.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague the Russian and Chinese approach "lets the Syrian people down, and will only encourage President Assad's brutal regime to increase the killing".

French Ambassador Gerard Araud said: "It is a sad day for this council, a sad day for all Syrians, and a sad day for democracy."

Mohammed Loulichki, Morocco's ambassador to the UN and the sole Arab member of the current council, voiced "great regret and disappointment" that Moscow and Beijing had struck it down.

But Russia's Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, insisted the draft resolution had lacked balance.

"Some influential members of the international community unfortunately... have been undermining the opportunity for political settlement, calling for a regime change, pushing the oppositionists to power," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to have talks with Mr Assad in Damascus on Tuesday.

Beijing's ambassador to the UN, Li Baodong, said the resolution would have been counter-productive.

"China maintains that, under the current circumstances, to put undue emphasis on pressuring the Syrian government... or impose any solution will not help resolve the Syrian issue," he said.

Pro-Assad residents in the Syrian capital Damascus welcomed the Sino-Russian stance.

"I believe there are more important issues for the Security Council to take care of... such as the starvation in Somalia, and Gaza," one told BBC News.

"Isn't there anything else apart from us for the Security Council to deal with?"

Cut off
Early accounts of the casualties in Homs talked of as many as 200 deaths, but one of the main activist groups later revised its confirmed toll down to 55.

Fighting in Homs has continued into the evening, the BBC's Paul Woods reports from a rooftop in a suburb of the city.

Our correspondent and his cameraman heard a lot of heavy machine-gun fire and unexplained explosions when they entered the city during the afternoon, travelling with activists who were carrying supplies of fresh blood to treat casualties.

Homs appeared to have come under a "pretty relentless" bombardment on Friday, our correspondent adds, and parts of the city which oppose the regime have been cut off.

Homs was one of the first cities to join anti-Assad protests, and became one of the focal points of dissent after government forces fired on crowds in April last year. Many army defectors have sought refuge in the city.

Source: BBC News - Russia and China veto resolution on Syria at UN
 

ejazr

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Syria resolution: India kept out ‘automatic’ intervention - Indian Express

While India voted in favour of a resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) demanding a stop to all violence in Syria, which was later vetoed by Russia and China, it lobbied to drop a contentious clause seeking "automatic measures" by the international community in case of non-compliance.

Besides, sources said, contrary to perception that New Delhi voted in favour of a regime change in Syria, an "explicit reference" to stepping down of President Bashar al-Assad was dropped after India, among others, raised objection. In fact, India ensured that several stringent clauses were diluted.

Unlike the vote on Libya, the resolution on Syria did not make any references to states taking "any necessary measures" to act against the country unless it adhered. "In case Syria did not act in 21 days, all the UNSC was to do was to meet again to consider action," sources said of the resolution that was later vetoed.

India's insistence on a Syrian-led reconciliation process led to the reference to "automatic measures" in case of non-compliance being specifically dropped.

"Our support for the resolution is in accordance with our support for the efforts by the Arab League for a peaceful resolution through a Syrian-led inclusive political process... we believe that the leadership of Syria is a matter for the Syrian people to decide," India said during the Security Council debate.
 

Ray

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India playing her cards cleverly!
 

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