(L) President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and, on the right, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano
New Delhi
10 June 2011
India abstained in Thursday's (9 June 2011) vote in the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), which decided to report Syria to the United Nations security
council (UNSC) over its alleged covert nuclear programme.
The 35-member board of governors of the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog decided by
a 17-to-six vote, with 11 abstentions, to refer Syria to the UNSC for building an
undeclared nuclear reactor at a site in Dair Alzour (which was unilaterally destroyed by
Israel in 2007), for not allowing the IAEA to carry out investigations, and for not adhering
to its safeguards agreements.
The last time the IAEA reported a member-state to the UNSC was Iran in February 2006.
India's votes against Iran had been widely criticised at home, but Thursday's abstention
did not go unchallenged either.
A section of the official circles described India's decision to abstain, and to not cast a 'no
vote' along with Russia and the others, as being dictated by a desire to keep the US and
Israel in good humour. It felt that the IAEA vote was meant to bully President Bashar al-
Assad of Syria into submission and to set in motion a process to effect a regime change
(similar to Libya) in order to disrupt the Syria-Iran axis.
However, New Delhi defended itself by maintaining that states were required to comply
with safeguards obligations and it has consistently been against clandestine
proliferation. At the same time, it pointed out, scope for dialogue should be fully utilised.
The IAEA's referral of Syria to the UNSC should be seen in the context of the attempts by
the West to push for a UNSC resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on protesters.
With Russia indicating that it might veto any such UNSC resolution against Syria, New
Delhi was of the opinion that putting it to vote in the 15-member UNSC, of which India is a
non-permanent member, would be pointless.
In Thursday's vote, 17 countries voted for reporting Syria to the UNSC. They were: the
US, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Germany, Italy, Japan, South
Korea, Australia, Belgium, Cameron, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, and the UAE.
Six countries voted against the motion: China, Russia, Pakistan, Ecuador, Venezuela
and Azerbaijan. India and 10 other countries abstained, which included Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, South Africa, Peru, Jordan, Kenya, Niger, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Mongolia was absent
from the vote.
from the vote.
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