Singapore: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday that as India buys military equipment from Russia, it did not participate in a vote at the United Nations (UN) on a resolution condemning the attack on Ukraine.
In his annual address to the people of Singapore, Lee said in Mandarin that India, China, Vietnam and Laos did not vote on a UN resolution condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In February this year, PM Lee Hsien Loong had called half of India’s parliamentarians rapists and murderers.
India distanced itself from UN resolutions against Russia
Significantly, in February, a resolution was moved in the UN Security Council (UNSC) strongly condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine and India did not participate in the vote, saying that dialogue is the only way to resolve the dispute.
The resolution was not passed because Russia, a permanent member and chairman of the Security Council for February, vetoed it. Lee said that as the smallest country in the ASEAN grouping, Singapore’s interests are inherently different from those of other countries.
Praise for Singapore
“Therefore Singapore not only condemned the Russian attack but also imposed sanctions on it,” he said.
Lee said Singapore did not indicate standing with the US or Russia while criticizing Russia. He said Singapore has to stick to its position and defend its fundamentals. Lee said that no matter whether a country is big or small, its sovereignty should be respected.
What did the Singapore PM say about Indian MPs?
The Prime Minister of Singapore took part in a debate in Parliament in February 2022 on ‘How democracy should work in the country’. During this, he had mentioned the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Taking a jibe at the issue of India’s tainted MPs, he had said, “Jawaharlal Nehru’s India has become such where, according to media reports, rape and murder charges are pending against nearly half the MPs in the Lok Sabha.”
However, it is also said that many of these allegations are politically motivated.
