The ongoing crisis in Palestine has put the Indian government in an uncomfortable position. While the government remains adamant that its policy on the Palestine issue has not changed, the Opposition wants India to condemn Israel’s role in the crisis and even take action against it.
In a delicate balancing act, India, while supporting the Palestinian cause, has maintained strong ties with Israel, which has emerged as a key arms supplier. “There is absolutely no change in India’s policy towards Palestine, which is that we fully support the Palestinian cause while maintaining good relations with Israel,”said India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
She added that a number of previous governments, including those led by the Congress, BJP and coalition governments headed by Deve Gowda and I.K Gujral have had a similar stance on the issue.
Swaraj was replying during a short-duration debate on Gaza situation in the RajyaSabbha July 21, where she proposed that India send out a “joint message” urging both Israel and Palestine to accept Egypt’s offer of peace talks. However, she added that peace would have been restored in the region had Palestine not rejected the peace initiative mediated by Egypt.
A belligerent Opposition rejected the proposal for the “joint message” and
pressed instead for the adoption of a resolution condemning the violence in Gaza.
The demand for the resolution, however, was turned down by the Deputy Chairman P. J. Kurien. He said that Rule 176 under which the discussion took place did not provide for a resolution or motion of any kind.
Some members of the opposition also demanded that India suspend all military purchases from Israel, which was rejected by the minister.
Israel has emerged a major arms supplier to India, with bilateral arms trade over the last decade estimated at $10 billion. As a sign of its strong relations with India, it has also committed itself to not supply any weapons systems and military hardware to Pakistan, saying the policy in this regard was “very clear” and “strict”. The India-Israel relations experienced a marked upsurge during the previous BJP-led NDA government (1998-2003).
The Opposition also charged the government of responding late to the Gaza crisis. The minister retorted that India had already given a considered response through the joint statement of the BRICS summit in Brazil.
The lack of consensus on the resolution and anger over the government not yielding to their demand triggered a walkout by almost the entire Opposition.
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in fierce fighting since July 8. The conflict has killed over 518 Palestinians, most of whom are civilians, and 18 Israelis.
An increasingly concerned UN Security Council, which met on July 20, has called for an “immediate ceasefire”.
There were also reports that four Indian working in Gaza were evacuated on July 20 with the help of the Representative Office of India (ROI) in Ramallah, West Bank.
Many Indians in Palestine have decided to stay back for personal and moral reasons.
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