India clarifies views on Israel-Palestine issue at Munich Security Conference of global leaders
By Asad
Mirza, New Age Islam
19
February 2024
The
Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024 got underway in the background of the
continued war in Palestine. Significantly, India’s external affairs minister
made India’s position on Palestinian statehood clearer at the conference,
besides holding talks with other global leaders.
Indian
External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar has called for a ‘permanent fix’ to the
Israel-Palestine conflict. In his speech at the Munich Security Conference
(MSC) 2024, Jaishankar stated that a large number of nations, particularly
those in the Global South, believe that terrorism shouldn't be justified.
Though
calling Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October, an act of terrorism, EAM
Jaishankar said that Israel should have been “very mindful” of civilian
casualties in its response and emphasised its “obligation to observe
international humanitarian law.”
He
also outlined key dimensions of the Israel-Palestine conflict so as to have a
long-term and permanent solution to the issue.
Jaishankar’s
latest speech stresses two points that India, as the PM noted in his first
reaction, after the 7 October attacks, emphasises that the Hamas’ attacks were
a “terrorist attack”, yet it has further reiterated its age-old stand that the
solution to the Palestinian issue, could be found only through a two-stage
solution.
However,
the outlines of any such “two-state solution” are yet to be defined and by the
time the international comity agrees to those parameters, a lot of innocent
Palestinians would have been killed in the ongoing Israeli attacks.
What
is of paramount importance here is an immediate cessation of hostilities by the
IDF and an ensured flow of humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinians.
In his
speech EAM, also praised the efforts by the US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken, but Blinken on his part said that the US is committed to Israel's
security and supports the proposition that Israel has to find ways to ensure
that whatever happened on 7 October “never happens again.” This underlies the
continued American support to the Bibi regime in Israel and till the time this
monetary and military support is not halted by the US, signs of the war ending
immediately are very slim.
In his
speech, Jaishankar also stated that a large number of nations, particularly
those in the Global South, believe that terrorism shouldn't be justified. He
said that these nations believe a two-state solution should not be delayed.
"I
think a very large number of countries, especially those in the Global South,
believe that terrorism shouldn't be countenanced or justified. But they equally
strongly believe that a two-state solution should not be delayed. These are not
choices. These are both musts. And unless we are able to address both these
issues, we are not going to really solve the problem," EAM said.
At the
conference, Jaishankar also met with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Faisal bin
Farhan Al Saud and discussed the West Asia situation and the strategic
partnership between India and Saudi Arabia.
Notably,
India and Saudi Arabia share centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties. Economic
ties are an important aspect of the bilateral strategic partnership between the
two nations, according to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
If,
however, India and Saudi Arabia share the same page on the Palestinian issue,
then it seems plausible that the war may end soon in Palestine. Saudi is one of
the prominent Middle Eastern nations, that are pursuing diplomatic efforts to
get the conflict, ended as soon as possible.
Meanwhile,
there are reports that Russia has invited various Palestinian factions to meet
in Moscow on 26 February, the Palestinian Authority prime minister said on
Sunday, adding that the PA was ready to engage with Hamas.
“Russia
has invited all Palestinian factions who will be meeting on the 26 of this
month in Moscow. We will see if Hamas is ready to come to the ground with us”
Mohammad Shtayyeh told the Munich Security Conference.
“We
are ready to engage. If Hamas is not then that’s a different story. We need
Palestinian unity,” he said, adding that to be part of that unity Hamas needed
to meet certain prerequisites.
The
Russian initiative has come rather as a surprise to the Western world, but it
should not be marred by any indifference. As far as the question of Hamas
participating at the 26 February meeting is concerned, Russia may take the help
of its crucial ally Iran to influence the Hamas leadership to sit at the same
table as other Palestinian factions and hammer out a long-term stand and policy
for the earliest solution to the long-running conflict.
At an
interactive session at the security conference with the US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Jaishankar also
delved into the question of India’s alignment on non-alignment with Russia and
the US.
When
asked about the country's foreign policy priorities in the backdrop of
observations that it is traversing from “non-alignment to all alignment” and
its continued procurement of crude oil from Russia notwithstanding Moscow's
invasion of Ukraine. Jaishankar asserted that India should not be criticised
for having multiple options.
"Why
should it be a problem? I am smart enough to have multiple options. You should
be admiring and not criticising. Is it a problem for others? I do not think
so," he said.
This
is not the first time that the EAM has forcefully put across India’s stand on
its continued economic ties with Russia and the two-state solution to the
Palestinian issue. Rather it should be seen in the new paradigm shift of global
geopolitics, where India, once being a champion of non-alignment has been able
to maintain ties with different ideologies based on its own interpretation and
understanding of the issues, rather than being tutored by either super power.
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(Asad
Mirza is a Delhi-based senior political and international affairs commentator.)
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