KUALA LUMPUR: India's External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar has unequivocally acknowledged that the Palestinians have been "denied the right to their homeland" amid the protracted Israel-Hamas conflict.
Dr Jaishankar condemned the events of Oct 7, but emphasised the importance of responses adhering to international humanitarian law, particularly referencing Israeli counteroffensive actions in Gaza.
"Countries may be justified, at least in their own minds, in responding (to attacks). But you cannot have a response that does not take into account international humanitarian law.
"And the fact is, that whatever the rights and wrongs of the issue, there is the underlying matter of the Palestinians' rights and the fact that they have been denied the homeland," he said in response to a question during an interaction session with the Indian diaspora in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday.
On Oct 7, Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip attacked Israel through land, sea and air routes, where around 1,200 people were killed and some 240 seized and taken as hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Media reports suggested 30 of them are still held hostage.
The unprecedented attack prompted Israel to launch an all-out attack on Gaza Strip that has killed, nearly 32,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. The majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been displaced by widespread Israeli strikes.
India's position on the conflict has been a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders, with due regard to the security needs of Israel.
However, India has drawn criticism on social media for its close ties with Israel, with reports of pro-Palestine protesters in the country being targeted by the Indian government.
Reuters reported on Oct 25, 2023, about a pro-Israel march in Aligarh city, Uttar Pradesh, with slogans such as "Down with Palestine, Down with Hamas," which portrayed India as an "anti-Muslim" country, especially in the Muslim world."
Dr Jaishankar, who is currently on a two-day official visit to Malaysia starting Wednesday, also addressed the wider implications of conflicts such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, stressing the need for a pragmatic approach and nuanced solutions.
India's position from the start in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said, has been that a solution cannot be found on the battlefield and India wants to find a way of bringing this conflict to an end.
"It's very easy to be sharply judgmental (over India's stance). But look at the complexity of real life.
"We took the position from the start that you're not going to get a solution to this (Russia-Ukraine war) conflict on the battlefield.
"Two years have passed (since the Russia-Ukraine war), with many who initially believed a solution could be sought (during that timeframe)."
However, today, it appears that optimism has waned, he said.
"If we assess the conflicts unfolding in this day and age, there are actually no winners. At the end of the day, every party involved, along with numerous innocent bystanders or other nations, get ruined or affected one way or the other.
"Our position has been that (we must) find a way of bringing this conflict to an end. In some circles, this (India's stance) was not a very popular position at that time.
"But as I travel around the world and observe countries far away, particularly low-income nations grappling with severed food supplies, energy shortages, compromised harvests due to fertiliser unavailability, and disrupted trade leading to financial constraints and indebtedness, it becomes evident that many are now burdened by the fallout of the conflict."
In an ideal world, he said issues would be black and white, with distinct rights and wrongs.
If life operated in binaries—this is right, that is wrong; this is good, that is bad—decisions would be straightforward, rendering the need for foreign policy and foreign ministers obsolete, he said.
However, in reality, he said, complexities abound, and navigating them requires nuanced approaches, underscoring the indispensable role of diplomacy and international relations.
Dr Jaishankar said in the policy realm, those tasked with making critical decisions, striking a delicate balance is paramount.
"When I go back to India tomorrow, I will have the Foreign Minister of Ukraine visiting me the following day.
"We have also been the country that has had the opportunity to talk to the Russians very 'frankly and bluntly' on this (Ukraine) issue on different aspects.
"Others have used us to pass messages. And by the way, the same thing applies when it comes to the Gaza-Israel conflict as well.
"It (dealing with conflicts) is not an issue of moral cop-out. It's about appreciating that real life actually has a whole lot of complexities and that the considered answers, the sustainable answers, cannot be very angular. One cannot pick some facets to the exclusion of other facets," he added.