Asserting that its move to abstain from voting was not to "duck" the issue of escalating violence in Syria, over which New Delhi was "extremely worried and alarmed", the sources in the Ministry of External Affairs said it was also "deeply depressing" that the situation will continue unless there was major UN engagement to resolve the crisis.
The sources also maintained the situation has "slipped out of debating chambers to the battlefield" with the conflict between two "well-equipped and armed" sides showing no signs of abating.
The draft UN General Assembly resolution, which expressed "grave concern" at the escalating violence in Syria, got 133 votes in favour in the 193-member body yesterday.
India abstained from voting after the Saudi-drafted text referred to calls for President Bashar Al Assad to step down and asked UN states to severe diplomatic relations with the troubled nation.
The resolution, which is not legally binding and is of a moral nature, also demanded that the country lockdown its chemical and biological weapons.
Asked if Syrian government has approached India, the sources said their Foreign Minister was in touch with the Indian Ambassador there. (more)
