October 28, 2022
Thank you, Mr. President. I thank Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland for his briefing.
- India welcomes the recent agreement between Israel and Lebanon on delineating their maritime boundary. This is a positive step towards achieving peace and stability in the region. We acknowledge the constructive role of the United States and France in bringing the negotiations to fruition.
- India has consistently supported peace, stability and prosperity in West Asia, which is our extended neighbourhood. Last month marked two years of Abraham Accords. During the first leaders’ summit of the I2U2 group in July this year, the Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister of Israel, President of the UAE and President of the US agreed to increase joint investment in six key areas of water, energy, transport, space, health and food security. Since then, we are moving forward on projects that aim to bring energy security, food security and economic growth in West and South Asia. In that context, we had also welcomed the full normalization of ties of Israel with UAE, Morocco, Bahrain and Sudan.
- We hope these regional developments give impetus to the Middle East Peace Process. Accordingly, we encourage Israel and Palestine to take concrete steps to solve the conflict peacefully and to re-engage in meaningful negotiations on all final status issues.
- The only way to achieve lasting peace is a two-state solution achieved through direct negotiations, taking into account the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians for Statehood and Israel’s legitimate security concerns. We urge the UN and the international community to play an important role in the efforts towards resuming these negotiations. There is no alternative to the two-State solution.
- Turning to the situation on the ground, we are deeply concerned by the escalation of violence in Israel, the West Bank and Jerusalem. We condemn all acts of violence and attacks against civilians, including acts of terror, provocation, incitement and demolition. Violence begets violence, and we urge both sides to break the current cycle of violence before it spirals out of control.
Mr. President,
- I will conclude by reaffirming India’s unwavering commitment to establishing of an independent, viable and democratic State of Palestine, taking into account Israel’s legitimate security needs. India remains convinced that to achieve long-lasting peace and stability in the region, there needs to be a just, sustainable and comprehensive solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
I thank you.