India on Friday called for the “full and effective implementation” of a convention that bans the development and use of biological weapons.
It made the statement at a United Nations Security Council emergency meeting called by Russia, which has alleged that the United States is financing “military biological programmes” in war-torn Ukraine.
R Ravindra, India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told the council on Friday that the country attaches high importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. He described the document as a “key global and non-discriminatory disarmament convention prohibiting an entire category of weapons of mass destruction”.
Ravindra said that it was important to ensure the implementation of the convention in letter and spirit. “We also believe that any matter relating to obligations under the Convention should be addressed as per the provisions of the Convention and through consultations and cooperation between the parties concerned,” he said.
India on Friday also reiterated its concern about the “progressively deteriorating situation” in Ukraine, and welcomed recent talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
“We believe that immediate cessation of hostilities and diligently pursuing the path of dialogue and diplomacy is the only way forward,” Ravindra said.
‘False flag’, claims US
At the United Nations Security Council, the United States’ representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that Ukraine does not have a biological weapons programme.
Thomas-Greenfield remarked that the Russian representative’s allegations “sound like they were forwarded to him on a chain email from some dark corner of the internet”. She claimed, however, that Russia has long maintained a biological weapons programme in violation of international law.
“There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories – not near Russia’s border, not anywhere. There are only public health facilities, proudly – and I say proudly – supported and recognised by the U.S. Government, the World Health Organization, and other governments and international institutions,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
She added that Russia’s move to call for the security council meeting was a potential false flag, and alleged that Moscow may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against Ukrainian citizens.
“This meeting is the result of their [Russia’s] isolation on this Council and on the world stage,” the United States’ representative said. “We’re not buying what they’re selling – literally or figuratively.”
On March 9, the spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry Maria Zakharova claimed that documents seen by Russian forces in Ukraine revealed “an emergency attempt to erase evidence of military biological programmes” financed by the United States’ Department of Defense, according to Reuters.
She also claimed that Moscow had documents showing that Ukraine’s health ministry had ordered the destruction of plague, cholera and anthrax samples before the conflict began on February 24.
At the time, Ukraine had strongly denied the allegations.
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