External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today reiterated India's support for a sovereign and independent Palestinian state in Parliament. He said India continues to support the two-state solution, i.e. the creation of a separate Palestinian state, to end the Israel-Palestine conflict.
However, the foreign minister also said that Israel's hostage issues cannot be underestimated or ignored.
Defending the defense partnership with Israel, Jaishankar said – Israel is a country with which we have a strong record of cooperation in national security. Israel stood by us even when our national security was in danger.
“When we take a decision, we will keep in mind the larger issues, but also our national security interest,” Jaishankar said.
India supports 10 resolutions related to Palestine During question period in Parliament, questions were raised about India's distance from all UN resolutions on Gaza. In response to which the Foreign Minister said-
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict, 13 resolutions related to Palestine have been brought to the United Nations General Assembly, of which India voted in support of 10 resolutions and abstained from voting on three resolutions.
Jaishankar was also asked about the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense chief Yoav Galant and Hamas leader Mohammad Daif, to which he said India is not a member of the ICC.
A look at India-Israel security cooperation India and Israel have a very old defense relationship. Israel helped India in wars with Pakistan and China. This was the time when India was in dire need of arms. According to a report by media house Haaretz, India tops the list of countries that buy Israeli arms. India accounted for 37% of Israel's total defense exports between 2019-2023.
During the war, India also helped in providing arms to Israel. A report in 'The Wire' claims that a deal has been struck between Adani Defense and Aerospace and Israel's Elbit Systems.
Under this more than 20 Hermes 900 UAV/drones have been manufactured in India and shipped to Israel. Apart from this, many parts of war planes have also been given to Israel. Government-owned Munitions India Limited exported munitions to Israel in January 2024.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
