New York, New Delhi May 11: A resolution was passed by the body’s of General Assembly to recognize Palestine as a full member of the United Nations. It subsequently recommended to the Security Council to ‘positively reconsider’ the full membership of Palestine. Full membership of the United Nations can only be determined by a vote of the members of the Security Council. Last month, a proposal to recognize Palestine as a full member of the Security Council was rejected after the United States vetoed it.
On May 10, the General Assembly voted on this proposal among 193 countries. 143 member countries voted in favor of the proposal. 9 countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against. A total of 25 countries abstained from voting.
This vote in the General Assembly did not get full membership of the United Nations, but the status of Palestine in the General Assembly was further enhanced. From September this year, they will be seated with other members in the council chamber, able to fully participate in debates, propose agendas and elect their representatives to committees. However, they will not get a chance to vote on any proposal.
Over 34,000 people, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on Gaza in the past seven months. In such a situation, the United Arab Emirates proposed to the General Assembly to give Palestine full membership of the United Nations.
143 countries voted in favor of this proposal including India. 9 countries voted against, including Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, United States of America. 25 countries abstained from voting. Countries include Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland , Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vanuatu.
Observers consider India’s vote in favor to be significant because earlier India kept itself abstained from voting.
