In Israel-Palestine conflict, India maintains non-partisan, pro-peace policy

Pertinently, most of the previous governments in New Delhi had been biased against Israel in their policy. They backed an independent, sovereign state of Palestine within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The stand New Delhi has taken during an emergency UN Security Council session on the recent violence in Gaza clearly shows India's central concern is peace for and welfare of the entire humanity in the region.

At the session, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Khamboj said,"Long-term peace in Israel and Palestine can be achieved only through a negotiated two-State solution leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side by side, at peace with Israel, taking into consideration the legitimate security needs of Israel."

Representative Khamboj called for an immediate resumption of talks between Israeli and Palestinian governments and advocated the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilian population in Gaza.

Observers say the Khamboj proposition is very much in tune with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's non-partisan, pro-peace policy towards the region. Prime Minister Modi said after the India visit of Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas in May 2017, "[W]e hope to see the realisation of a sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine, co-existing peacefully with Israel." Earlier, in his talks with Abbas at the administrative headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in 2015, Prime Minister Modi avoided any reference to Palestinian claim to its borders or to Jerusalem. He simply said New Delhi hoped to see an early realisation of a "sovereign, independent Palestine living in a peaceful environment." Pertinently, most of the previous governments in New Delhi had been biased against Israel in their policy towards the region. They backed an independent, sovereign state of Palestine within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. In November 2013, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement on the occasion of the International Solidarity Day with the Palestinian People, "India supports a negotiated resolution, resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognised borders side by side and at peace with Israel..."

The observers opine the international community would do well to heed India's prescription for the peace and prosperity of the entire region. The main reason for the continuance of conflict in the region is that the Palestinian Authority does not seem to be genuinely committed to honour Israel's right to exist. Militant outfits, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), openly indulge in the activities aimed at destroying the Jewish State. They fire, from time to time, rockets from Gaza over the areas close to Jerusalem. The PA must unambiguously accept Israel's right to exist and rein in the elements that promote the politics of hatred and violence against the Jews in the region.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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