New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Friday (February 7) said that India’s “long standing” position on Palestine has “not changed” after former US President Donald Trump suggested that the United States take over Gaza and develop it as “the Riviera of the Middle East” following the removal of Palestinians.
At a media briefing, Misri said, “On the Gaza Strip, you are aware of what our stand is on the issue of Palestine. It’s a long-standing position. It has not changed.”
He was responding to a question about India’s stance on Trump’s proposal to clear the Gaza Strip of Palestinians.
India’s Palestine policy advocates a negotiated two-state solution, ensuring the creation of a sovereign, independent, and viable Palestinian state with secure, recognised borders, coexisting peacefully with Israel.
According to observers, Trump’s proposal, on which he has doubled down, would inevitably mean the end of the two-state solution.
The proposal was made by Trump at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has publicly earlier opposed the two-state solution.
He proposed transforming the enclave into a resort that would draw people from around the globe and resettling Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” he said.
Reacting to Trump’s comments, Netanyahu said that the idea is “worth paying attention to”.
Trump’s proposal reignited calls from Middle Eastern countries for an independent Palestinian state.
One of the largest recipients of American aid, Egypt, while backing efforts to rebuild Gaza after the January 19 ceasefire, made it clear that Palestinians should not be forced to leave their territory. Ahead of his meeting with Trump next week, Jordan’s King Abdullah dismissed any proposal involving land annexation or Palestinian displacement.
Since the war in Gaza erupted in October 2023, more than 45,500 Palestinians – many of them women and children – have been killed. Palestinian sources estimate that Gaza’s population has declined by 6%, with approximately 100,000 people leaving the enclave.
