India reiterates 2-state solution for Gaza crisis

India on Tuesday backed a two-state solution to resolve the decades-old Israel-Palestine conflict and bring lasting peace to the troubled region where war erupted again after Hamas militants launched an audacious assault against Israel on October 7 and the West Asian nation responded with a massive bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza.

- Rahul Singh

The solution was also backed by Australia after a bilateral meeting between foreign ministers S Jaishankar and Penny Wong, who said they had discussed the West Asia crisis during their talks.

Jaishankar and Wong, who met in New Delhi for the 14th India-Australia Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue, told a media briefing that the two-state solution — a recognised Palestinian state alongside Israel — was the way forward, even as the two leaders condemned the Hamas attack as an act of terror and called for observance of international humanitarian law in Gaza.

The two ministers made three broad points in relation to the ongoing developments in West Asia: there can be no compromise on terror; there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza, which has been hit hard by Israeli attacks; and there is the issue of rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people.

One of the issues relates to the rights and future of the Palestinians, and that too has to have a solution, Jaishankar said. “And that solution in our view, and in the view of many countries, can only come from a two-state solution,” he added, in response to a question during a joint press briefing with Wong.