India backs people of Palestine, Gaza peace plan, PM Modi tells Arab leaders

He also expressed confidence “that enhanced cooperation in technology, energy, trade and innovation will unlock new opportunities and take the partnership to new heights”.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that Modi “conveyed his appreciation for the important role played by the Arab League in supporting efforts towards regional peace and stability”.

Modi’s remarks assume significance in the wake of an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join the Gaza Peace Board although India is yet to take a call on its next step in this regard.

The Arab leaders are in the country for the India-Arab FMM being co-chaired by India and the UAE. Speaking at the ministerial meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that taking forward the comprehensive peace plan to end the Gaza conflict, based on the UN Security Council Resolution 2803, is a widely shared priority.

“Various countries have made policy declarations on the peace plan, individually or collectively. This is the larger context in which we deliberate on the region’s challenges and prospects,” he said.

Jaishankar said multiple developments, each of considerable consequence, have taken place in the Middle East over the last few years and many of them have reverberated well beyond the region. In this context, he pointed to shared interests that warrant strengthening the forces of stability, peace and prosperity, he said.

Jaishankar also raised serious concerns over the challenges posed by terrorism and called for concerted global efforts to combat it. “A common threat in both our regions to these objectives is that of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations… Cross-border terrorism is particularly unacceptable because it violates the basic principles of international relations and diplomacy,” he said in remarks seen as a reference to Pakistan.

“Societies targeted by terrorism have the right to defend themselves and will understandably exercise it… Zero-tolerance for terrorism must be an uncompromising universal norm,” he said.

Jaishankar said India has strong partnerships with all Arab League members and that the region has some of India’s largest expatriate communities, key energy sources, major trade relationships and emerging technology and connectivity initiatives.

“We are crucial to each other when it comes to food security and health security. Today’s deliberations, while of a collective nature, will nevertheless give a fillip to many bilateral ties,” he said.

Jaishankar also said India has developed capacities and strengths in keeping with the times. “Many of these are technology related and their application has been people-centric. We believe that sharing experiences and best practices in that regard will be to our mutual benefit,” he said.

Referring to the geopolitical environment, he said, “We meet at an important juncture when the global order is undergoing transformation for a variety of reasons. Politics, economics, technology and demography are all fully into play. Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year. This obviously impacts all of us, and India as a proximate region. To a considerable degree, its implications are relevant for India’s relationship with Arab nations as well.”

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the India-Arab FMM is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalised in March 2002. India is an Observer to the League of Arab States, a pan-Arab body with 22 member states.

The first such meeting to be hosted by India witnessed the participation of all 22 Arab countries. Those who attended included the Foreign ministers of Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Comoros, Somalia and Libya. Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were represented by deputy ministers, while Djibouti, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Mauritania and Iraq were represented by senior diplomats and officials.