On Friday, India voted in favor of a draft United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that affirmed Palestine’s eligibility for full membership and recommended that the Security Council reconsider the matter favorably. This resolution followed the US veto of a similar resolution in the Security Council in April.
The UNGA resolution emphasized that Palestine met the requirements outlined in Article 4 of the UN Charter and should therefore be admitted as a full member. It urged the Security Council to reconsider the matter positively in light of this determination.
India, which has a long history of supporting Palestine’s aspirations, was among the 143 countries that voted in favor of the resolution. Nine countries voted against, and 25 abstained. The resolution was met with applause in the UNGA hall.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, had previously stated that India hoped Palestine’s application for membership would be reconsidered and endorsed in due course.
The resolution’s annex outlined additional rights and privileges that Palestine would gain as a full member, including the right to participate in UN conferences and meetings, be seated among member states in alphabetical order, and hold elected offices in the General Assembly and its Main Committees.
Palestine, which currently holds observer status at the UN, does not have the right to vote or put forward its candidature to UN organs. For a state to be granted full UN membership, its application must be approved by both the Security Council and the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority is required.
Currently, Palestine is a non-member observer state at the UN, a status granted by the General Assembly in 2012. This status allows Palestine to participate in UN proceedings but does not give it the right to vote on resolutions.
India’s support for Palestine’s full membership reflects its long-held position on the issue and its commitment to a just and comprehensive resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
