Geneva:On June 6, in a rare move, India voted in support of Israel at the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). New Delhi supported the denial of observer status to Shahed, a Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation.

Countries such as US, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, UK, South Korea and Canada voted in favour of Israel, while China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venzuela, Yemen, Pakistan and some others voted in favour of the Palestine body. The proposal made by ‘Shahed’ was rejected by a 28-14 vote.

“This is a good sign. … India was the first country to support us amongst the Asia group,” said Maya Kadosh, deputy chief of mission at the Israel embassy in India.

The Council decided to return the NGO’s application as the organisation failed to present important information when its credentials were being considered earlier this year, according to a record of the meeting on the UN website.