India supports UN resolution on Palestine

By Parveen Chopra

New York(IANS) : India has supported the UN resolution endorsing the Middle East peace conference in the US city of Annapolis in Maryland earlier this week.


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In his statement to the General Assembly Friday, E. Ahamed, the Indian minister of state for external affairs, said: “India welcomes the Joint Understanding reached by the president of Palestine and the prime pinister of Israel at Annapolis.

“We have supported the resumption of direct negotiations between the leaders of Palestine and Israel and the establishment through peaceful negotiations of a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living side by side and in the shadow of peace with the state of Israel,” he added.

But given the complexity of the task, Ahamed cautioned that unprecedented determination, goodwill and capacity to offer and accept compromises and concessions were needed on all sides.

“It is here,” the minister suggested, “that members of the international community have a collective duty to help in creating a favourable environment within which the principals can take forward the negotiations.

“India is ready to play a supportive role in this collective endeavour to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.”

Pointing out that the conflict in the region was political in nature, and so difficult to resolve by force, Ahamed said that India had consistently urged all concerned to eschew violence and exercise restraint at each of the all-too-frequent instances when violence had broken out, exacerbating sufferings and misery in the region.

He said that for India, commitment to the Palestinian cause had always been a bedrock of its foreign policy.

As a result, India has “watched with concern as border restrictions, economic sanctions and a restrictive access regime had brought the Palestinian economy to the verge of collapse.

“We have viewed with alarm the continued vicious circle of attacks, reprisal and counter-attacks, the worsening humanitarian and security situation in Gaza following developments in June this year, as well as the continued violence inflicted on innocent civilians.

“Moreover, the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories, and the relentless construction of the separation wall threaten to create new facts on the ground and fresh grievances in an old conflict.”

The Indian minister expressed satisfaction that the Middle East peace process would address the remaining issues on the Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Syria tracks.

“We believe that the Arab Peace Initiative re-launched at the Arab Summit in Riyadh in March provides a constructive framework to achieve such a comprehensive peace,” Ahamed said.

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