India’s UN Voting Strategy Changes

• India’s voting strategy at the United Nations has shifted due to a polarized world, leading to an increase in abstentions and a decrease in ‘yes’ votes.

• An analysis by The Hindu shows that the annual percentage of ‘yes’ votes by India has dropped to 56%, the lowest since 1955, while the annual percentage of abstentions has increased to 44%, the highest in India’s history at the UN.

• The change in voting patterns began around 2019.

• The percentage of annual ‘yes’ votes fluctuated between 20% and 100% until the late 1960s, with abstentions also fluctuating between 0% and 40%.

• Between 1970 and 1994, the volatility decreased significantly, with the percentage of annual ‘yes’ votes ranging between 74% and 96%.

• Between the mid-1990s and 2019, India’s voting patterns became more stable, with the share of ‘yes’ votes ranging between 75% and 83%.

• The increase in abstentions is seen as a reflection of greater polarisation between major powers in the UN and the complexity of UN resolutions.