Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday informed that India reiterated their call urging the “parties to de-escalate, eschew violence and work towards creating conditions for an early resumption of direct peace negotiations towards a two-state solution”.

After Israel began incessantly bombarding Palestine‘s Gaza, followed by the 7 October Hamas attack, India had condemned the terror attacks, and asked for adherence to international humanitarian law. 

Notably, India has never explicitly demanded a ceasefire, and even abstained from voting for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling for a ceasefire. 

Hindustan Times analyses that India, which has strong strategic ties with both Israel and key Arab states, has sought to fashion a nuanced approach to the conflict triggered by the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas.

“We have made our position clear on multiple occasions, including during the United Nations General Assembly debate on October 27. We have strongly condemned the horrific terrorist attack on Israel, urged the need for zero tolerance for terrorism, and called for immediate and unconditional release of hostages,” Arindam Bagchi said, reported by HT. 

“We have also conveyed our deep concern at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the increasing civilian toll and welcomed efforts to de-escalate the situation and provide humanitarian assistance,” he said. The Indian side has also emphasised the need for “strict observance of international humanitarian law”, Bagchi added. 

Describing the situation as “difficult”, Bagchi said India has so far provided 38 tonnes of humanitarian relief materials.

The Ministry of External Affairs issued a clarification on Thursday amid claims that Israel was looking to hire more than 1 lakh Indian workers.

Israel is currently facing a labour shortage with the work permit of more than 90,000 Palestinians cancelled amid the war with Hamas. The Israel Builders Association recently said that officials were “negotiating with India”.

“… We have been working towards giving our citizens access to a global workplace… We are in discussion to try and get into mobility agreements with a number of countries… In Israel, already a number of workers are employed there, especially in the caregiver sector… We have been discussing a bilateral framework in the construction and caregiver sectors. But this is a long-term initiative, I’m not as I said aware of the specific requests are numbers that are floating,” said MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

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Updated: 09 Nov 2023, 11:37 PM IST