India ‘Not the West’, so, help Palestine

India is not the ‘West’. This is a USP it must use with Palestine – and Israel – to tell both warring parties to cease fire for the sake of their own sake. New Delhi has greater dealings with Tel Aviv of late. But who in ‘Palestine’ does it need to talk to? The humanitarian and strategic implications of the continued war provide S Jaishankar’s call from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministerial meeting in Riyadh for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire importance.

India has recognised Israel’s right to retaliate for the October 7 terror attacks. This much has been recorded in good faith. It has also spoken up for the humanitarian crisis in Palestine. This is not diplomatic two-timing but a genuine attempt to find a geopolitical middle ground. The fact that Israel has enough partners, like the election-distracted US, trying to drive sense into its head, is obvious. The question is, who can be an honest broker to do the same to ‘Palestine’?

India’s credibility – with its absence of either legacy baggage of taking overt sides, or having hegemonic aspirations – makes it a candidate that ‘Palestine’ can trust. But, again, who is Palestine? India’s no longer in a ‘Yasser Arafat-hugging’ dispensation vis-a-vis Palestine since the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority‘s disintegration. GCC, Tehran and Moscow, as India’s (Beijing-friendly) friends, can provide New Delhi a toehold. Palestine, certainly a geographic entity, has people suffering. India can use its humanitarian leverage, as GoI announced from Riyadh this week, to focus on all parties in the conflict to stop that very palpable suffering. Geopolitics is all very fine. But Tel Aviv, Tehran, Moscow, Beijing, Washington and New Delhi apart, the suffering of Palestine people can stop.