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India stayed retired of connection issued astatine a associated property league of diplomats from much than 85 countries astatine the United Nations, criticising Israel’s latest plans to tighten power of territory successful the West Bank.
The connection was endorsed by the League of Arab States; the European Union; BRICS laminitis members Russia, China, Brazil, and South Africa; India’s Quad partners Australia and Japan; and neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, the Maldives, Mauritius, and Pakistan. It came conscionable up of a UN gathering connected the contented and the U.S.-led Board of Peace gathering successful Washington connected Thursday.
India’s determination is simply a departure from erstwhile positions, peculiarly its ballot astatine the UN successful October 2025 criticising Israel’s amerciable annexation of Palestinian territory, and the Delhi Declaration connected January 31, 2026 that supported a Palestinian authorities based connected “1967 borders”.
The External Affairs Ministry declined to remark connected the reasons for India’s stance.
More than a argumentation shift, the flip-flop and the decisions to enactment distant from some the associated connection and the Board of Peace meetings are seen arsenic linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming sojourn to Israel connected February 25-26, observers say.
The associated connection was issued astatine a “stakeout” connected Tuesday, and it was work retired by the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, flanked by diplomats from dozens of countries that co-signed the document.
“We powerfully condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed astatine expanding Israel’s unlawful beingness successful the West Bank,” Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said.
“We underline successful this respect our beardown absorption to immoderate signifier of annexation,” Mr. Mansour said, adding that the connection rejected each measures “aimed astatine altering the demographic composition, quality and presumption of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem”.
Over the past fewer months, pursuing the ceasefire successful Gaza, the Israeli Knesset has passed a fig of plans to tighten its power implicit onshore successful the Palestinian West Bank’s “A” and “B” Areas, which person been administered by the Palestinian Authority since the Oslo Accords (1993-1995). Among the measures are the removal of restrictions connected the acquisition of onshore by outsiders and the checking of documentation for those presently surviving connected the land, which is seen arsenic a precursor to occupying and annexing the territory, arsenic Israeli settlers person done elsewhere.
“Such measures interruption planetary law, undermine the ongoing efforts for bid and stableness successful the region, tally antagonistic to the Comprehensive Plan and jeopardise the imaginable of reaching a bid statement ending the conflict,” the connection said.
India’s refusal to articulation the connection signed by galore important states was criticised by diplomats connected societal media. Former Ambassador to Iran K.C. Singh called it “regrettable that India has chosen Israeli country truthful blatantly” and questioned whether the determination was besides linked to assistance India’s ties with the U.S.
“Strategic autonomy was meant to grow India’s choices, not shrink its motivation vocabulary. If autonomy turns into avoidance of normative positions altogether, it starts looking little similar independency and much similar hedging,” wrote erstwhile Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao, referring to India’s mean positions connected the Israel-Palestine conflict.
On January 31, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had hosted a gathering of the League of Arab States and met Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin. It is unclear whether Mr. Jaishankar discussed Mr. Modi’s upcoming sojourn to Israel, his archetypal since July 2017, and whether Mr. Modi was besides readying a travel to Palestine subsequently arsenic helium had successful February 2018.
The sojourn to Israel has been nether treatment for immoderate weeks and comes aft Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enactment disconnected his sojourn to India past November, reportedly for information reasons. Mr. Modi’s question to Israel volition besides travel weeks aft the merchandise of the “Epstein files” successful the U.S., wherever the precocious American capitalist and convicted enactment offender Jeffery Epstein had claimed successful correspondence with a Qatari interlocutor that Mr. Modi “danced and sang” astatine the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump (in his erstwhile tenure), an allegation the External Affairs Ministry denied strongly.
