Saturday, February 19 2005 13:41 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: A United Nations committee has adopted a resolution asking member States to ban all forms of human cloning, including for therapeutic purposes, a move strongly opposed by India and 34 other nations.

The 71-35 votes yesterday (Feb 18, 2005) with 43 abstentions reflected the sharp division among the 191 member States over the cloning issue. The resolution now goes to the General Assembly where approval is a foregone conclusion.

If approved, the resolution would only be a recommendation and not a legal requirement.

India joined 35 nations, including Britain, France, China, Japan, Singapore and Brazil in opposing the statement.

Blasting the decision, Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said that this "weak and no-binding political statement" resulted in the world body losing the opportunity for an international ban on the "abhorrent prospect" of reproductive cloning because of "intransigence of States whose actions serve only to hold back medical research."

The text was strongly backed by the Bush administration.

Yesterday's vote came after four years of futile efforts by the committee to call for a ban on human cloning.

The sharp differences arose after the United States sought to widen the scope of the ban to include therapeutic cloning which, scientists say, could help find cure for cancer, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Alzheimer's and several other diseases.