Statement by Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, at UNSC briefing on the situation in Yemen

November 22, 2022

Thank you Mr. President. I thank Special Envoy Hans Grundberg for his briefing. We recognise his ongoing efforts to resume the truce and bring the Yemeni parties back to dialogue.

2. I also thank Reena Ghelani, OCHA Director of Operations for her briefing. We appreciate the important contribution of OCHA, the humanitarian community and aid workers in Yemen in delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people of Yemen.

Mr. President,

3. Yemen is at the cross-roads. One path leads to the peaceful resolution of the conflict and the other leads to the resumption of active hostilities, which will only exacerbate the suffering of the Yemeni people.
4. The choice is clearly for the parties to the conflict to make. We urge them to embrace the path towards peace – by shedding the military approach and by extending and expanding the truce into a comprehensive nationwide ceasefire. The focus should be on cooperative and confidence-building measures to alleviate the lives of the Yemeni people and eventually by starting an inclusive political dialogue to end the conflict.
5. In this regard, we are concerned by the actions of Ansarallah and condemn their attacks on the ports and shipping vessels in Yemen and also their threats to the shipping vessels travelling in and out of Yemen.The use of sophisticated missiles and drones in these attacks raises questions over the implementation of the targeted arms embargo established by this Council. I reiterate India’s call for the strict implementation of the arms embargo to effectively eliminate such threats in the future.
6. These attacks, which have particularly targeted the oil sector, will have severe consequences for the already fragile economy of Yemen. Such actions can also turn the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea into a potential conflict zone, thereby destabilising the maritime security of the region.
7. On the humanitarian side, two wheat shipments of almost 85,000 Metric Tons (MTs) have departed for Yemen under the Black Sea Grain initiative within the last 30 days. We welcome this development and hope that this important initiative would continue to benefit Yemen.
8. India has also taken steps to address food security in Yemen by prioritising wheat exports to the country. Despite our national regulations on wheat exports, we have continued to export wheat to Yemen to mitigate the adverse impact of supply changes in the global commodity markets. We remain committed to do so in future as well.

Mr. President,

9. Let me conclude by calling upon all parties to engage constructively with the Special Envoy in his efforts to renew the truce and seek a political solution to the conflict. This Council should send a strong and clear signal to anyone, who stands in the way of these efforts.

Thank you