New Delhi: Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in a phone call with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh Saturday reiterated India’s ‘long-standing position on Palestine’.
The development comes two months into the Israel-Hamas war, which has claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis and 17,000 Palestinians.
India has repeatedly emphasised its support for the ‘two-state solution’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in UAE earlier this month and advocated for a “two-state solution to the conflict”.
Jaishankar in a post on X, formerly Twitter, said Saturday that Shtayyeh “expressed deep concern on the situation in both Gaza and the West Bank”.
The external affairs minister added that he “reiterated India’s long-standing position on Palestine” during the call and “agreed to remain in touch”.
Spoke to Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh this evening.
He expressed deep concern on the situation in both Gaza and the West Bank. Reiterated India’s long-standing position on Palestine. Agreed to remain in touch.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 9, 2023
Jaishankar had said in the Lok Sabha earlier this week that New Delhi remains concerned about the “deteriorating security situation” in Gaza and has called for “restraint and de-escalation”, besides the need for peaceful resolution of the conflict through “dialogue and diplomacy”.
“India has also strongly taken up the ongoing situation in Gaza at multilateral fora such as G20, BRICS and Voice of Global South Summit and reiterated its stance,” he told Parliament.
On Saturday, the US vetoed a UNSC resolution demanding an ‘immediate ceasefire in Gaza’ citing the council’s failure to condemn Hamas’ 7 October attack. The same day, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) ordered residents to leave the centre of Gaza’s main southern city Khan Younis.
India had in October abstained from voting on a UNGA resolution calling for a ‘humanitarian truce’ in the Gaza Strip. When questioned about it, Jaishankar noted: “We have always supported a negotiated two-State solution, towards establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine within secure and recognised borders, living side by side in peace with Israel.”
While India has condemned the ‘terror attacks’ of 7 October, it has not declared Hamas a terrorist organisation, despite Israel’s insistence.
The Indian government told Israel that a militant group – which has no history of attacks in the country – would only make it to its list if the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) recognised it as a terror organisation, sources in the security establishment had told ThePrint earlier.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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