Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal supported the resolution against Russia in the United Nations General Assembly. Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka abstained. Nepal, which is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, also voted for the HRC resolution to set up an independent investigation into Russia’s alleged violations of human rights in Ukraine.

Sri Lanka: tourism & tea

Colombo had been hoping its economic meltdown would be arrested this year as tourism picks up again. But the Ukraine conflict has put paid to that. A shortage of foreign exchange has crippled Sri Lanka’s import-dependent economy. The surge in oil prices due to sanctions on Russia has made India’s $500-million line of credit to Sri Lanka for fuel purchases look inadequate.

Even in the tourism sector, which is recovering from the double whammy of the 2019 Easter suicide bombings and the pandemic, Sri Lanka might take a hit once again – Russia and Ukraine were a major market.

Russia is also a major buyer of Sri Lankan tea, and Colombo can continue selling only if it can find a way around the sanctions.

While these were likely reasons for Sri Lanka’s abstention, some in Colombo have questioned this neutrality, drawing comparisons with the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh, when Sri Lanka sided with Pakistan and gave its air force refuelling facilities.

“India had no right to violate the territorial integrity of Pakistan. Strong self-interest lay behind the position [taken by Sri Lanka in 1971]. The existential threat to Sri Lanka was seen as coming from India. No precedent could be created that could support India’s support for Sri Lanka’s minorities and infringement of Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity,” Rohan Samarajiva argued in Colombo Telegraph.

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Pak’s embrace of Russia

Pakistan’s decision to abstain at the UNGA vote – it also passed up its speaking time before the vote and made no EoV – was a reflection of the new geopolitical possibilities it sees in the region. It ties with Russia were built over the last decade as a response to its tensions with the US during the two-decade-long Afghan war. US-Pakistan relations have cooled during the Biden presidency, especially after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US President and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have not spoken even once. Pakistan hopes to build a new “axis” with China and Russia that will take charge of Afghanistan and Eurasia. But Imran Khan’s awkwardly timed visit to Moscow – he became the first foreign leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine – has left the world baffled, with many Pakistani commentators calling it “ill advised”. Earlier this week, Imran Khan ticked off EU ambassadors in Islamabad for asking him to support the Western alliance and stand up for the UN Charter, asking them why they had not taken on India for its “annexation” of Kashmir.

Bangla: 1971, 2021 memories

Bangladesh had its own reasons for abstaining. Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said Dhaka’s position was for “peace and stability throughout the world”. “We have spoken about the need for a peaceful resolution through talks. We have said the same thing at the UN. We have said that we are deeply concerned. The secretary general of the United Nations should take an initiative to bring about a peaceful solution,” Momen said in Dhaka after the vote in the UNGA.

Bangladesh’s abstention can be seen in the light of tensions between the US and the Sheikh Hasina government, and the Biden Administration’s December 2021 decision to sanction the Rapid Action Battalion, an elite paramilitary deployed against jihadist groups, for its alleged human rights violations.

On the other hand, Dhaka remembers with gratitude that Moscow helped India militarily during the 1971 war, while the US sided with Pakistan. Russia is now constructing Dhaka’s first nuclear power plant at Rooppur.

Nepal: pitch against Russia

Sandwiched between China and India, both of which abstained from voting on the UN General Assembly resolution against Russia, and a raging domestic debate in the country on whether to accept a $500 million development grant from the US, Nepal’s unequivocal stand against Russia seemed to reflect its own geopolitical difficulties. In 2020, Kathmandu’s ties with New Delhi faltered over India’s new map which, Nepal claimed, showed its territory as part of India.

Amrit Rai, Nepal’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said in the UNGA that his country opposed any threat or use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of any sovereign country.

Nepal has just emerged from a huge domestic political standoff, that included violent street protests, over a $500 million US development grant for electricity transmission lines and road construction over the next five years. Sections of the Nepali polity were of the view that accepting the money would be tantamount to joining the US-led camp against China in the Indo-Pacific.

The US had reportedly threatened to review its relations with Nepal if it did not take the money. Just hours before the deadline for the grant, known as the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), was due to expire, the Nepal parliament voted its approval with a resounding two-thirds majority. China said the US had used “coercive diplomacy to gets its way”, and asked if the MCC fund was “a gift or a Pandora’s box”.

Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan

BHUTAN, which is usually viewed as an Indian satellite, but which has, in fact, been asserting an independent foreign policy for a few years now, also voted against Russia.

Like Nepal, sandwiched between two regional giants, tiny Bhutan’s main concern has been to avoid getting caught in their rivalry. China claims on Bhutan territory led to the two sides signing an MoU in October 2021 for a three-step border agreement, which is being seen in India as window-dressing on the Chinese fait accompli on the ground.

“If we go by some of the geopolitical logic of Russian insecurity, people can all invade the homes of neighbours they don’t like or have disputes with. Russia’s logic in invading Ukraine is that if you are a big power & have certain insecurities, real or imagined, then you can ride roughshod over the sovereignty of a smaller country,” tweeted Tenzing Lamsang, editor of The Bhutanese.

THE MALDIVES, which signed a defence agreement with the US last year, and which, under the Solih government, has shed the previous Yameen government’s China tilt in its foreign policy, also voted against Russia. Its foreign minister Abdulla Shahid is the president of the UN General Assembly.

“The Russia-Ukraine conflict has the possibility of becoming a much wider conflict with grave consequences. We are reminded of the need for closer cooperation among regional partners to avoid conflict and ensure security and stability both inside and outside our borders,” Maldives Defence Minister Maria Didi said at the Colombo Security Conclave in Male earlier this week, reflecting a sentiment across South Asia.

AFGHANISTAN, which continues to be represented at the UN by its ousted government, voted against Russia. The Taliban regime, which is yet to be recognised as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, issued a statement declaring neutrality in the Ukraine conflict. Among the people of Afghanistan, there is concern that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has deflected the world’s attention from the humanitarian catastrophe in their own country.