At the ICJ, while 13 judges, including Justice Bhandari, asked Russia to immediately suspend its “military operations” on Ukraine, two judges — from Russia and China — voted against the decision.
Justice Dalveer Bhandari, whose election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was hailed as a major diplomatic victory by the government, has voted with 12 other judges including those from US, France and Germany at the global court which asked Russia to suspend its invasion of Ukraine.
The Indian government on Thursday distanced itself from Indian judge Dalveer Bhandari's vote against Russia at the International Court of Justice, saying those judges vote in their personal capacities. The court order asking Russia to immediately suspend military operations in Ukraine was supported by 13 judges. Two judges, one from China and the other Russian, voted against it.
Asked about the US remark that India's deal for discounted Russian oil could place India on the wrong side of history, the government also reminded the West that a number of countries, especially in Europe, were importing energy from Russia.
New Delhi: Justice Dalveer Bhandari, the Indian judge in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, was among the 13 judges who asked Russia to immediately stop its military offensive in Ukraine Wednesday.
Bhandari was one of the two judges at the world court whose vote is contrary to their respective countries’ stance at the United Nations General Assembly.
“The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on 24 February on the territory of Ukraine,” presiding judge Joan Donoghue announced.
At the United Nations (UN), India’s stand has been that diplomacy and dialogue are the solutions to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. At the UN General Assembly on 2 March, India urged both sides to focus on diplomacy to end the war and abstained from voting on the matter.
Diplomatic sources told that the process of voting at the ICJ is different from the way issues concerning war and peace are dealt with at the UN, and the way specific resolutions are handled.
“Unlike in the UN, in the ICJ, there is no option of abstention. If the Russians are upset with this move, let them be,” a source said.
Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a media briefing Thursday that “ICJ judges vote in their individual capacities, and they vote on the merits of that”.
Others familiar with the ICJ’s functioning echoed Bagchi, saying that a judge’s opinion at the world court is in his or her individual capacity, and does not reflect their respective countries’ stand on the issue.
“Justice Bhandari is in ICJ as an independent judge. His orders there do not speak for India’s opinion on international issues. As a world court, ICJ settles in accordance with international law the disputes submitted to it by States, which have agreed to submit themselves to its jurisdiction,” said another source.
In a surprise move, an Indian judge at the United Nations judicial body voted against Russia. Justice Dalveer Bhandari voted in favor of the majority at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), popularly known as the World Court.
The United Nations judicial body on Wednesday asked Russia to immediately halt its military offensive in Ukraine, saying it was “profoundly concerned” by the Kremlin. India joined the majority vote in the 13-2 decision.
India has so far held the middle ground, abstaining from voting on the Ukraine-Russia conflict at the UN. It has called on both the nations to focus on negotiations and end hostilities. So Bhandari’s position is very different from New Delhi’s official line of communication.
Who is Justice Bhandari? And does his vote mean India has changed its stand on the ongoing war in Ukraine?
Bhandari’s re-election to ICJ
Justice Bhandari is a member of the ICJ since 27 April 2012. He was re-elected from 6 February 2018 for a term of nine years.
ICJ judges are elected for nine-year terms through concurrent elections in the UN General Assembly and Security Council. A winning candidate must secure a majority in both the Assembly and the Council.
In 2017, India decided at the last minute to field Justice Dalveer Bhandari who was just finishing his tenure at the ICJ for re-election. There were earlier indications that his election would be contested.
Bhandari’s re-election to the ICJ was preceded with high political drama and is considered a diplomatic win for India over the United Kingdom, according to a book India vs UK written by Syed Akbaruddin. His selection meant that British candidate Christopher Greenwood had to withdraw.
He was among the 11 judges at the ICJ presiding over the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian nation who was accused of espionage by Pakistan.
Before the ICJ, Bhandari served as a Supreme Court judge. He delivered a number of landmark judgments on family laws, constitutional laws, insurance and banking.
Keeping Bhandari’s view in a divorce case, the government is seriously considering his suggestion for an amendment of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, incorporating irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce, says the ICJ website. His “orders in the matter of the right to free and compulsory education for children led to the availability of basic infrastructural amenities in primary and secondary schools all over the country”, it adds.
The significance of India’s vote
Bhandari’s nomination to the world court comes with the support of the government. However, his vote at the ICJ is considered independent based on his interpretation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It cannot be confused with India’s official position on the happenings.
Who voted for and against Russia at ICJ
On Wednesday, presiding judge Joan Donoghue told the ICJ, “The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on 24 February on the territory of Ukraine.”
The court is profoundly concerned about the use of force by the Russian Federation, which raises very serious issues in international law, he said at the hearing in The Hague in The Netherlands.
Bhandari voted in favor of the order along with judges from the United States, Australia, Germany, Japan, Slovakia, Morocco, France, Brazil, Somalia, Uganda, Jamaica, and Lebanon.
The two ICJ judges who voted against the orders to stop Moscow’s military activities were Vice-President Kirill Gevorgian from Russia and China’s Xue Hanqin.
The judges supporting the majority judgment voted in line with their respective countries’ ballot at the UN General Assembly resolution on Ukraine on March 2. The only exceptions were India and Uganda, who had then abstained. Morocco was absent during the UNGA vote and China too had abstained.
Days after the February 24 invasion, Ukraine had dragged Russia to the UN top court. Russia snubbed hearings on March 7 and 8, arguing in a written filing that the ICJ "did not have jurisdiction" because Kyiv's request fell outside the scope of the 1948 Genocide Convention on which it based its case, according to a report in The Associated Press.
White House asks India to pick a side
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been keeping communication lines open with both Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
India has expressed concern on the situation in Ukraine as it worsens and has called for immediate ceasefire. However, there is increasing pressure on New Delhi to pick a side.
The White House has said that it was time for India – and other nations – to choose on which side of history they want to be. When questioned about reports on India taking discounted crude oil from Russia, White House spokesperson, Jen Psaki, said, Our message to any country continues to be that, obviously, abide by the sanctions that we have put in place and recommended. I don’t believe this would be violating that. But also think about where you want to stand when the history books are written.
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