India reiterates support at UN for two-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict
It also said that one should not be content with paper solutions but strive to achieve practical ones.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said on Tuesday that deliberations during the preparation for the UN High-Level International Conference on 'The Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution' confirm that the international community continues to believe there is no substitute for a two-state solution.
He said the conference offers an opportunity to reflect on the path traversed so far in the journey towards achieving peace through a two-state solution.
'Our efforts must now focus on how to bring about a two-state solution through purposeful dialogue and diplomacy, and bringing the parties to the conflict to engage directly with each other,' Harish said.
'Reaffirmation of support must take the form of actionable steps that pave the way for the two-state solution. Identification of such steps and their implementation modalities demand our collective attention and effort,' he said in the UN General Assembly.
The high-level conference on July 28-30 is co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France.
A 25-page outcome document titled 'New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution' asserted that the war in Gaza must end now and Hamas must free all hostages.
'In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority,' the outcome document said.
It added that following a ceasefire, a transitional administrative committee must be immediately established to operate in Gaza under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority.
Harish noted that certain action points are emerging from the UN conference, and following up on them is the key.
'Let us not be content with paper solutions but strive to achieve practical solutions that actually make a tangible difference in the daily lives of our Palestinian brothers and sisters,' he said, expressing India's complete readiness to contribute to this 'noble endeavour.' Harish said India has been clear on the measures that must be undertaken in the short term.
These include an immediate ceasefire, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian assistance, release of all hostages, and the path of dialogue and diplomacy.
'There are no alternatives to these measures,' he said.
Noting that in 1988 India became one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine with firm support and commitment to the two-state solution, Harish underlined that the overall sentiment in this forum is clear.
'It is also India's earnest desire to see peace and calm prevail in the Middle East. Lasting solutions are required to achieve this,' he said.
Asserting that humanitarian aid to Gaza needs to flow without impediments, India said Palestinians in Gaza must have access to food, fuel and other basic necessities without hindrance.
'Humanitarian assistance is vital in sustaining life and must remain outside the realm of politics or conflict,' Harish said, underlining that the humanitarian assistance pillar demands 'our immediate attention and action.' India voiced concern that the human suffering in Gaza continues unabated, tens of thousands have been killed, several medical facilities damaged or destroyed, and children deprived of schooling for more than 20 months.
India also stressed that the plight of the hostages should not be forgotten.
'There can be no justification whatsoever for terrorism, for addressing any root cause or political grievance.' Noting that civilians, including women and children, have the right to lead normal lives, India said that in the years ahead, 'meticulous reconstruction and rehabilitation' efforts of a substantially large scale will be required.
Highlighting the vital aspect of security, India said a stable arrangement that suitably caters to the security needs of both sides is necessary.
'Neither party should feel insecure. A sovereign, viable and independent State of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living side by side with Israel in peace and security, is a prerequisite for enduring peace and sustainable development.' India further said that while aid and support are essential for the Palestinian people in rebuilding their lives, it is equally important to create hope and economic structures conducive for investment and employment.
India has been making concerted efforts to bring about a tangible impact on the daily lives of the Palestinian people by implementing human-centric projects in diverse sectors. The total commitment by India on this front stands at around USD 160 million.
'Economic prospects and viability for a Palestinian state are crucial,' Harish said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the conference that the central question for Middle East peace is the implementation of the two-state solution.
'My central question to those who stand in the way is this: What is the alternative?' Guterres said, questioning whether the alternative is a one-state reality where Palestinians are denied equal rights, and forced to live under perpetual occupation and inequality or a one-state reality where Palestinians are expelled from their land.
'That is not peace. That is not justice. That is not in accordance with international law. And that is not acceptable,' the UN chief said.
Guterres stressed that statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward. 'And the denial of statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere.' UN agencies warn that key food and nutrition indicators in Gaza have exceeded famine thresholds, reaching their worst levels so far.
Hashtags
- Politics#Israel-Palestinian#UNHigh-LevelInternationalConference#ThePeacefulSettlementoftheQuestionofPalestineandtheImplementationoftheTwo-StateSolution#UNGeneralAssembly#NewYorkDeclarationonthePeacefulSettlementoftheQuestionofPalestineandtheImplementationoftheTwo-StateSolution#UN#Hamas#PalestinianAuthority#Harish#ParvathaneniHarish
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Digging my own grave': Hamas releases video of ‘living skeleton' Israeli hostage
The family of Evyatar David, a 24-year-old Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, saw him for the first time in months on Friday evening. In a video released by Hamas, David appeared skeletal, hollow-eyed, and barely able to speak. He was shown digging what he described as his own grave in an underground tunnel. 'I haven't eaten for days… I barely got drinking water,' he says in faint Hebrew, his voice faltering. 'What I'm doing now is digging my own grave… Every day my body becomes weaker. I'm walking directly to my grave.' The video has sent waves of fear through Israeli society, especially among the families of the 49 hostages still believed to be in Gaza nearly two years after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead. David was among the 251 hostages taken that day, abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His family accused Hamas of using starvation as a weapon of war and propaganda. 'We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas's tunnels in Gaza — a living skeleton, buried alive,' the family said in a statement on Saturday. 'They are on the absolute brink of death,' his brother Ilay added at a Tel Aviv rally, calling on the international community to act. 'Evyatar is my little brother, a kind, gentle soul whose only 'crime' was celebrating at a music peace festival.' The rally, one of the largest in recent weeks, drew thousands of Israelis demanding the release of the remaining hostages. 'Our brothers are turning into skin and bones at this very moment,' said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is also believed to be held in Gaza. Saturday's footage of David was Hamas's second video in two days. It followed the release of another hostage video by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which showed Israeli captive Rom Braslavski. David had last been seen in March, watching silently as other hostages were freed during a temporary ceasefire. Hamas has faced increasing scrutiny and criticism for the release of these videos. Human rights experts speculate that they could amount to war crimes, while United Nations investigators have previously said that hostage taking, mistreatment and psychological torture by Hamas violate international law. Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas remain precarious. Last month, negotiations held in Doha collapsed without a breakthrough with Israel demanding the release of all hostages before considering a halt to their offences. Hamas in turn has refused to disarm without the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. Until then, leadership has reenforced its commitment to armed resistance. US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with hostage families in Tel Aviv on Saturday and said the Trump team believes they can secure a deal to bring all hostages home. 'President Trump now believes that everybody ought to come home at once — no piecemeal deals. That doesn't work,' Witkoff said, according to Axios. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken with the families of both David and Braslavski on Saturday. Despite increasing international criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, the government has remained firm on its conditions for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, aid into Gaza continues to trickle in slowly. UN-backed food security experts say the 'worst-case scenario of famine' is now unfolding. Hamas has referenced this crisis in its hostage videos, attempting to draw parallels between starving Palestinians and starving hostages. David's family called for the humanitarian aid now entering Gaza through airdrops and UN convoys to also be directed toward the captives. 'The thought of his pain, his hunger, his fear in those dark tunnels — it haunts my every waking moment,' Ilay said.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Netanyahu in 'profound shock' after Hamas video of Israeli hostage digging own grave
As the war in Gaza rages on, Palestinian militant group Hamas has released a video of the remaining hostages in its captivity. The new hostage video has reportedly left Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 'profound shock.' In one of the videos, Israeli hostage Evyatar David tells the camera that he is 'digging his own grave.'(AFP/Reuters) In a statement from Netanyahu's office, the Israeli PM stated he had spoken to the families of the two hostages - Rom Braslavski and Evyatar Davi - shown in the video. The Israeli PM "told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing", the statement from his office added. Over the past few days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages, who were captured during the October 7, 2023. attack on Israel. In the videos, hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David are seen as Hamas leaders continue to hold them in captivity in underground tunnels. The videos have also fuelled renewed calls to reach a truce and hostage release deal without delay. Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv to urge Netanyahu's government to secure the release of the remaining captives. 'Time if running out' In the clips shared by the Palestinian Islamist groups, 21-year-old Braslavski, a German-Israeli dual national, and 24-year-old David both appear weak and malnourished. In one of the videos, Israeli hostage Evyatar David tells the camera that he is 'digging his own grave.' "What I'm doing now is digging my own grave. Every day my body becomes weaker and weaker. I'm walking directly to my grave. There is the grave where I am going to be buried in. Time is running out to be released and be able to sleep in my bed with my family." David is heard saying in the video released by Hamas as the 24-year-old breaks down at the end of the statement. "The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen. He is being starved purely to serve Hamas's propaganda," read a statement issued by David's family as protests took over Israel over the Netanyahu government's delayed response to a hostage deal. The images and videos of the hostages made the frontpages of Israeli newspapers. Maariv showcased the "hell in Gaza" and Yedioth Ahronoth showing a "malnourished, emaciated and desperate" David. Left-leaning Haaretz declared that "Netanyahu is in no rush" to rescue the captives, echoing claims by critics and protestors across the state that the war has been prolonged for Bibi's political agenda. France, EU condemn videos The videos released by Hamas have drawn global criticism towards the treatment of the hostages as well as the ongoing famine situation in the Gaza Strip. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the images "are appalling and expose the barbarity of Hamas", calling for the release of "all hostages... immediately and unconditionally". In the same post on X, Kallas said that "Hamas must disarm and end its rule in Gaza." France, which earned backlash for its move to recognise Palestine, has also condemned the videos. "Despicable, unbearable images of the Israeli hostages held for 666 days in Gaza by Hamas. They must be freed, without conditions," wrote French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Sunday, adding that 'Hamas must be disarmed and excluded from ruling Gaza.' 60,000 killed in Gaza The Hamas attack of 2023 in southern Israel resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people. Following the attack, Hamas attackers took around 250 hostages. Of these, 49 hostages are still being held in Gaza. However, as per the Israeli military, 27 are feared dead. Around 100 to 150 hostages were released during the truce pauses in November 2024 and earlier this year. Meanwhile, Israel's onslaught across the Gaza Strip has killed around 60,000 Palestinians. Of this, a majority of the death toll has been attributed to women and children.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Elite colleges under pressure: Trump wields federal funding to redefine academic autonomy
US President Donald Trump In an unprecedented reconfiguration of the relationship between higher education and the federal government, several of the United States' most prestigious universities have capitulated, some quietly, others under public scrutiny—to the hardball tactics of President Donald Trump's administration. Under threat of losing billions in federal research funding, elite institutions have agreed to sweeping concessions, financial penalties, and ideological alignment with a White House intent on recasting academia in its own image. At the heart of the confrontation is the administration's aggressive use of funding as leverage. Research dollars—historically doled out based on academic merit—are now weaponized to coerce ideological compliance. In a departure from past presidential norms, Trump has fused his political agenda with federal purse strings, tying grants to reforms in campus speech, gender definitions, diversity policy, and even interpretations of antisemitism. The Columbia precedent Columbia University was the first to yield. On July 23, the Ivy League institution agreed to pay a staggering $200 million fine to the U.S. Treasury in exchange for reinstatement of suspended research grants. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Susan Boyle Is Now so Thin and Looks Beautiful! Undo Over $400 million in federal funding had been pulled earlier in the year, largely due to the administration's claim that Columbia failed to adequately address antisemitic incidents during the Israel-Hamas war. In its agreement, Columbia consented to overhauls of its student disciplinary protocols and formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a controversial benchmark critics say conflates political criticism of Israel with hate speech. Additionally, the university committed $21 million to a compensation fund for faculty and staff who alleged discrimination. Yet, even in compromise, Columbia drew a line in the sand: the deal includes language asserting that the federal government cannot dictate its hiring, admissions, or academic speech. For Trump officials, however, the Columbia deal serves as a 'road map' for future enforcement, a blueprint of how universities might 'come to heel.' Brown and Penn : Ideological bargains Brown University followed with a $50 million payment directed not to federal coffers but to Rhode Island's workforce development programs—an unusual stipulation reflecting the administration's local economic messaging. In exchange, the government lifted funding freezes and ended probes into alleged antisemitism and racial bias in admissions. As part of the settlement, Brown agreed to remove race as a consideration in admissions and adopt the administration's binary definitions of gender. The University of Pennsylvania reached its own compromise, agreeing to retroactively disqualify swimming records set by transgender athlete Lia Thomas and issue a formal apology to female swimmers the administration argued had been disadvantaged. The Education Department had linked this civil rights case to a broader effort to ban transgender athletes from women's sports, resulting in a $175 million freeze in Penn's research funding prior to the agreement. Like Columbia's and Brown's, Penn's agreement included a clause preserving curricular independence, but the impact of the federal intrusion had already left its mark. The Holdouts: Harvard , Cornell , and beyond Not all institutions have acquiesced. Harvard University, long a symbolic adversary of Trump's populist conservatism, faces the largest penalty yet: a freeze on more than $2.6 billion in federal research support. The administration has accused Harvard of fostering antisemitism and enabling ideological extremism—charges the university disputes through multiple lawsuits. Negotiations continue, but administration officials have reportedly demanded a penalty surpassing Columbia's. For Harvard, the stakes are not only financial but existential: ceding to such terms may compromise the academic autonomy it has zealously guarded for nearly four centuries. Cornell University, Northwestern, and Duke have likewise seen vast sums—ranging from $108 million at Duke to over $1 billion at Cornell—frozen amid allegations of civil rights violations, racial preferences in hiring, and insufficient protection for Jewish students. In Princeton's case, dozens of federal research grants were suspended without any explicit reasoning—underscoring the unpredictability and opacity of the administration's tactics. A presidency reshaping academia Trump's strategic targeting of elite universities reflects a broader ideological crusade. He has painted Ivy League institutions as bastions of liberal dogma, harboring what his administration sees as anti-American, antisemitic, and discriminatory practices. Unlike any of his predecessors, Trump is using federal funding as both cudgel and carrot—punishing noncompliance while rewarding universities that align with his ideological framework. Critics argue this is a dangerous politicization of education, undermining the intellectual independence and open inquiry that universities are meant to protect. Supporters counter that it's long overdue corrective action against institutions they view as detached from public values. What is undeniable is the chilling effect: colleges across the country now operate under the specter of federal scrutiny, where the cost of defiance is measured not only in dollars but in compromised autonomy. Autonomy at a price These developments mark a watershed moment in American higher education. The Trump administration's wielding of federal research dollars as a means of ideological enforcement has redrawn the contours of university-government relations. Institutions once thought untouchable now find themselves making fraught calculations, balancing their principles against existential financial risk. For elite colleges, the question is no longer just about academic excellence—it is about whether independence can survive in an era where funding is contingent upon political fealty. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
