Indian people are with serbian brothers and sisters
NEW DELHI: India has pledged support to Serbia in the UN General Assembly next month over the issue of Kosovo's independence.
In an interview to TOI, visiting Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said India has promised to vote in favour of Serbia which is seeking UNGA's approval to refer Kosovo's "illegal" independence to the International Court of Justice at Hague.
Kosovo had unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February. Out of the 192 UN nations, only 47, including the US, have recognised Kosovo's independence, but Russia, China and India have opposed it.
The UN general committee had earlier accepted Serbia's request but the final outcome is subject to a vote by all UN nations in UNGA.
"India like other nations has a single vote but this single vote carries a lot of weight. I met foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and our position on the issue has been received here with deep understanding. Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence is an ethnically motivated attempt to secede in defiance of international law," said Jeremic, who is the first foreign minister of Serbia to visit India.
Kosovo's independence has polarised the world with many believing that the Russia-Georgia war too is a fallout of the happenings in Kosovo.
Serbia's ally Russia recognised the independence of two of Georgia's republics apparently in retaliation to the US recognition of Kosovo's independence.
"We have only used peaceful and legal means to deal with Kosovo. We have neither used force nor imposed economic sanctions. Some of the countries are even against our going to the UN and this we believe is an attempt to deny our fundamental right to ask questions," said Jeremic.
"Most of the countries are supporting us and we believe that if the matter goes to the International Court of Justice, it would freeze the number of nations recognising Kosovo. We have taken a lot of legal advice before undertaking this and believe that Kosovo will have only two options after the court gives its verdict — either be completely isolated or come to the table and discuss it with us," added Jeremic.
Referring to India's stand on J&K, Jeremic said that Serbia fully backed India's territorial integrity and there could be no compromise on that. "We fully back India on this. International borders have to be respected. Even for Kosovo, people said it's a special case but who is going to decide that. We had said earlier that this action by Kosovo can destabilise the world, but people ignored us. Nobody has the right to unilaterally declare independence and seek exemption from international law," said Jeremic.
He added that the visit to India even otherwise had been very fruitful. "Serbia shares excellent ties with India and during my visit here, we have only added more depth to the relationship. We have had talks on cooperation in automobiles, agriculture, technology, culture and education and this has been a very successful visit," Jeremic said.
On the delay in Serbia's integration into EU, Jeremic said some countries still doubted Serbia's intentions especially in dealing with those guilty of war crimes. "We have handed over some of those accused but some countries are still apprehensive. However, integration into EU is a strategic priority and we are going to achieve it," he added.
Topic: Indian govt to support Serbia's stand on Kosovo in UN (Read 533 times)