It is free fall for Syria now. The Arab League has used the last bit of ammunition in its cache by hurrying its case to the United Nations security council, hoping to knock off Russia’s and China’s objections with the moral force of its mission of bringing peace to Syria. It was close to doing so, and had 13 out of 15 votes of the council in its kitty, but Russia and China have both played spoilsport. They have vetoed the resolution that called for Bashar al-Assad to take his tanks and artillery off the streets, step down, hand over power and allow for elections within a specific time frame. Both China and Russia have given their own reasons to back their cases. Russia believes that calling for the government to back off would give an upper hand to the equally murderous rebel forces and China argues that the vote was hurried through without adequate effort to sort out differences over the draft. It goes without saying that old fears, mingling with the new, have forced the hand of the two. Russia is unwilling to give up support for the Assad regime, which has proved to be a useful ally in west Asian politics and given it economic and strategic advantages. China is averse to participating in interventionist politics that may turn against it in Tibet. Both, in fact, are unwilling to sanction a principle of intervention that allows foreign powers to depose incumbent governments in collusion with insurgents. The principle has been used shamelessly before, and more recently in the case of Libya. The last has allowed the United States of America and its Western allies a clear advantage in influencing the politics of Arab nations crucial to their interests. This, quite evidently, is not to the liking of either Russia or China.

The logic of inaction needs to be evaluated against the backdrop of the large-scale violence perpetrated on the people. India has not dithered from putting its four-decades-old relation with the Assad family at stake by doing so, and its example needs to be followed by others. India, much like Russia and China, decries military intervention. It voted for the security council resolution in the hope of promoting a Syrian-led inclusive political process. The defeat of the resolution is a setback to this hope because now the Arab League, together with its Western backers, may try to bolster the insurgents through a surreptitious arms and funds supply without pushing for a resolution of the problem.