‘Don’t patronize us’, Indian envoy tells Dutch Ambassador

Indian envoy to the UN TS Tirumurti engaged in a Twitter spat with the ambassador of the Netherlands to the UK on Friday after the latter said India should not

Indian envoy to the UN TS Tirumurti engaged in a Twitter spat with the ambassador of the Netherlands to the UK on Friday after the latter said India should not have abstained in the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.

“Kindly don’t patronize us Ambassador. We know what to do,” TS Tirumurti told Karel van Oosterom when he made the comment about India abstaining in the General Assembly.

Earlier on Thursday, Karel Van Oosterom made a comment about India abstaining in the General Assembly. He wrote on Twitter, “You should not have abstained in the GA. Respect the UN Charter.”

The Twitter spat came hours after Tiumurti addressed the Security Council where he reiterated New Delhi’s neutral stance and said: “India remains on the side of peace and therefore believes that there will be no winning side in this conflict and while those impacted by this conflict will continue to suffer, diplomacy will be a lasting casualty.”

Tirumurti said India “has strongly condemned the killing of civilians in Bucha and supported the call for an independent investigation”.

The envoy praised the UN evacuation of civilians from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol and said: “We hope these efforts will extend to other areas as well.”

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