By IANS,
New Delhi : Condemning the “unwarranted use of force” by Israel
in the Gaza Strip that has killed over 300 Palestinians, India has expressed
“disappointment” at continuing military strikes and asked Tel Aviv to
observe “utmost restraint”.
“The government of India had hoped that military action by Israel against
targets in the Gaza Strip would abate,” external affairs ministry
spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said in a statement here Monday night.
“It is disappointing to note that the use of disproportionate force is
resulting in a large number of civilian casualties on the one hand and the
escalating violence on the other,” the spokesperson said.
“This continued use of indiscriminate force is unwarranted and condemnable,”
Prakash underlined.
“The government of India urges utmost restraint so as to give peace a chance
as the peace process may well get derailed irreversibly by Israel’s attack
in the Gaza Strip and continued violence,” he said.
Israel Tuesday rejected any truce with Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip
before cross-border rocket fire ceased and said its air strikes heralded
“long weeks of military action”. Around 350 people have died and more than
800 wounded since Israel launched its attacks Saturday.
This is the second statement by India in less than three days asking Israel
to end the use of force against Palestinian civilians.
The first statement Dec 27 took note of “immediate cross-border provocations
resulting from rocket attacks particularly against targets in southern
Israel” – a reference to Hamas using rocket attacks to target southern
Israel which was cited by Tel Aviv as a reason for attacking the Hamas-ruled
Gaza Strip.
The statement was seen as mild by some political parties in India.
In a statement Sunday, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) came
down heavily on the “savage and horrific wave of air strikes by the Israeli
government”, and accused the Israeli government of “policies of colonial
repression” in Gaza and the West Bank.
The CPI-M politburo said it demands that the Manmohan Singh government come
out strongly against the Israeli government for this massacre.
“Its shameful policy of promoting security and military collaboration with
the Israeli state even while Israel continues its occupation and war against
the Palestinians will harm India’s image among the countries of West Asia
and damage India’s own interests,” the party said.
The CPI-M demanded that the Congress-led government stops its security and
military ties with Israel.
India’s ties with Israel have grown steadily in recent years with Tel Aviv
emerging as an important source of military hardware.