Kuala Lumpur: At a time when India has reiterated its two-state solution for the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that although the October 7 attack was definitely an act of terrorism, there remains the “underlying issue of the rights of the Palestinians and the fact that they have been denied their homeland.”
He was responding to a question at an interaction with the Indian community in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Speaking on the Hamas attack and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of Gaza which has killed over 32,000 Gazans, majority of which are civilian women and children, Jaishankar said: “How different pulls and pressures can be. On one hand, what happened on October 7 was terrorism. On the other hand, nobody would countenance the death of innocent civilians. Countries may be justified in their own minds in responding, but you cannot have a response that…every response must take into account something called international humanitarian law.”
“The fact is whatever the rights and wrongs of the issue, there is underlying issue of the rights of the Palestinians and the fact that they have been denied their homeland,” he added.
In October 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had PM Modi condemned the Hamas attack, writing on X, “Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.”
Following this, India has continued to bat for a ceasefire and talks to resolve the current Israel-Palestine war, throwing its weight behind the ‘two-state solution’ to the long-running conflict.
During a speech at Singapore, Jaishankar said that there are “very serious efforts” underway to bring about a permanent solution to the issue. “We (India) are very, very supportive of the efforts of a few countries who are working right now to find a way out of the present situation,” he said, without providing details.
“We are in a situation today where clearly, the need is to find a way of delivering humanitarian aid to a civilian population on a sustainable basis. But beyond that, I think there is a larger, longer-term issue really,” the minister said.
“What do you do on a more permanent basis?” he said, adding, “and we are very clear that we have to find a two-state solution.”
Agencies

  Gaza, Palestine

Agencies