Hamas Did a Terrorist Act, India’s Long-Standing Position on Palestine Stays: MEA's First Statement

India sees Hamas’ act as a terrorist attack, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday, reiterating India’s long-standing position that Israel and Palestine should “co-exist peacefully”.

“We have been very clear that we see this as a terrorist attack,” ministry’s spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a briefing on the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7. This is for the first time that the foreign ministry has given out an official statement on the conflict.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued two statements condemning the “terrorist attack” and expressing solidarity with Israel. “PM’s conversation (with the Israel PM) and comments stand on their own and do not require any clarification,” the MEA spokesperson added.

Bagchi further said there is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law, and there is also a “global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.” This was also in line with PM Modi’s conversation with Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu on October 10 in which Modi said he strongly and unequivocally condemns “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.

A government source had earlier told News18 that this wording attempts to reject any sort of justification for “terror attack” by Hamas.

India’s Stand on Palestine

Bagchi said India’s policy on Palestine has been long-standing and consistent. “India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign independent and viable state of Palestine living within secure and recognised borders side-by-side at peace with Israel,” the MEA spokesperson explained.

This reinforces that India is drawing a distinction between the “two-state solution” that the Modi government has backed in the past, and a dastardly terror attack by Hamas that specifically targeted innocent civilians, including women and children.

Congress leaders, while citing the CWC resolution that batted for Palestine, had pointed out how Modi visited Palestine in 2018 and advocated for the “two-state solution”. The MEA has now reiterated India’s long-standing position. However, the BJP government is clear that it is focusing on the October 7 “terror attack” by Hamas on Israel at present.