EAM Jaishankar reiterates India’s support for two-state solution, explains abstention from UN resolutions on Gaza conflict

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday, reiterated India’s support for a two-state solution in the long-standing Israel-Palestine conflict, while also asserting that issues of terrorism and hostage-taking cannot be underplayed or ignored.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha today, Jaishankar explained India’s decision to abstain from voting in some of the resolutions regarding the Gaza conflict in the United Nations General Assembly.

In response to TMC MP Saket Gokhale’s question on India’s stance on a two-state solution to Palestine, Jaishankar said, “We support the two-state solution and we have been public and unambiguous about that. So, there should be no cause for confusion regarding the two-state solution.”

Jaishankar was asked about the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammad Deif, to which the Foreign Minister pointed out that India is a not a member of ICC.

In response to the query, he said, “The honourable member would be aware that India is not a member of International Criminal Court. When the International Criminal Court was constituted, the question of our membership was considered. For very good reason after great deal of deliberation, India considered to not become a member. So, with regard to any decision passed by the ICC, it is not binding on us. So, it is not a matter on which we have taken formal position.”

Elaborating on the details regarding India’s assistance for Palestine, Jaishankar said that India gives an annual contribution of USD 5 million to The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which he called the “main assistance-providing agency.”

“India has given assistance to the people of Palestine at this particular time. I would like sir through you to bring to the notice of the house that we make an annual contribution of five million dollars to UNRWA, which is a main assistance-providing agency,” he said.

“This amount traditionally used to be a million dollar. So, during the time under the decision taken by this government, it was raised from one million dollars to five million dollars. In recent times, in terms of conflict, we have provided 70 metric tons of aid, of which 16.5 was of medicine in 2023. We have 65 metric tons of medicine to the Palestinian authority and UNRWA in 2024. We have provided 33 metric tons of medicine to Lebanon,” the Foreign Minister added.

Being asked how India will be able to support Palestine after Israel banned UNRWA, he said, “Regarding our support and contribution to UNRWA, this is a decision which we took as a government, we continue to stand by that decision. We have just infact released the latest tranche of support to UNRWA.”

Regarding India’s abstentions from some UN resolutions regarding Gaza, Jaishankar said the resolutions which “do not reflect the entire reality” of the situation by downplaying the October 7 terror attack by Hamas, can’t be supported by India, which is itself a ‘victim of terrorism.’

In response to a query raised by DMK MP Tiruchi Siva on India abstaining from voting in a resolution on Gaza in UNGA, Jaishankar said, “With regard to the particular resolution, which the honourable member referred to, we abstained, in fact, during this period, there have been in the General Assembly a number of resolutions, we have voted in favour of many, we have abstained on some.”

“Generally, when we abstained. the reasons are the resolution is not very balanced, the resolution is more divisive, the resolution can set a precedence which has consequences for us. The resolution has larger implications. In this particular case, we felt that the resolution was not well-drafted, it was not well-considered. We had reservations on the language. Our concerns were not accommodated and that is why abstained,” he added.

He noted that the wordings of the resolution is important and India chose not to support those resolutions, as they had no mentions of hostage-taking or terrorism, adding that India takes a very mature view of the resolution.

Jaishankar said, “Resolutions have implications as you noted, their wording is important. For example, the resolution which the previous member had referred to, there was no reference to terrorism, there was no reference to hostage taking. So, in our mind, a resolution which does not reflect the entirity of the situation is not a balanced resolution and a country like India, which is itself a victim of terrorism, if we countenance the fact that terrorism is underplayed and ignored, it is not in our interests that we do so.”

“So, when we look at any resolution, we look at the wording and we take a very very mature view about it and I want to say as a matter of principle, we condemn terrorism, we condemn hostage-taking. We do believe that countries have a right to respond to these situations but countries should be mindful of civilian casualties. They must observe humanitarian law and we would like a ceasefire and an early end to the violence. Our position has been very very clear but we would like this duly reflected in well-worded resolution which are balanced,” he added.

The conflict in Gaza reignited after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas, vowing to eliminate the entire terror group.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first world leaders to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 last year. However, India has also called for a ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. India has also put its weight behind the ‘two-state solution’ to the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict.