Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said the government was “intending” to vote in favour of the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC).
“We are intending to vote in the favour of the resolution at UNHRC,” the prime minister told the Lok Sabha. “We share the concerns of the members of the parliament.”
The Indian government is under domestic pressure to vote against Sri Lanka for the “war crimes” committed against the Tamils during the end of the civil war.
Human Rights Watch Monday hailed India’s decision to vote against Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva over a “war crimes” resolution.
“The Indian government has done the right thing by analyzing each situation separately instead of a knee-jerk response against a country-specific resolution,” the US-based body said in a statement.
“The Sri Lanka resolution is a positive step towards encouraging a credible domestic effort in ensuring accountability,” the group’s South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced in parliament that India intended to vote in favour of a US-sponsored resolution denouncing Sri Lanka for “war crimes” against civilians when the Tamil Tigers were crushed.