NATO sees India's abstention on Libya positively

The US-led NATO has taken a positive view of India's abstention on the UN Security Council vote on military intervention in Libya, saying it showed the world was united in opposing the actions of Muammar Gaddafi.

India had supported the United Nations Resolution for recognising the former rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) and for handing over Libya's UN seat to it.

Giving an unexpected positive spin to India's abstention, a NATO official said, "India voted with knowledge that its abstention would lead to the passage of the resolution."

"Every country has to decide for itself. India's decision was to abstain and not to vote. That decision contributed to the fact that the resolution was through," the NATO official said, adding that what happened subsequently was clearly indicative at the time the people were voting, which is one of the reasons that certain countries had abstained.

He said, "I think India's vote to abstain reflected an agreement on that fundamental reality as indeed was already clear by 1973 previous UN Security Council Resolution provision when India voted in favour."

The NATO official said, "Russia, which does have a Veto, knew that its abstention would mean that the resolution passed and it was comfortable with that."

He said the action against Libya came, "Because the entire world was united in the notion that what Muammar Gaddafi was doing in Libya was unacceptable.

There may have been disagreements about what exactly to do about it and how to do it, but there was no disagreement internationally that what was happening inside Libya was completely unacceptable."