Last Updated: October 12, 2023, 22:23 IST
Thiruvananthapuram, India
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (File photo/Shutterstock)
Over 7,000 Keralites have been stranded in Israel and ensuring their safe return was the most significant thing at the moment, he said
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said India could play a key role in reinstating peace in strife-torn West Asia, but termed as “unfortunate” the country’s deviation from its traditional stand in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Over 7,000 Keralites have been stranded in Israel and ensuring their safe return was the most significant thing at the moment, he said.
In the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israeli defence forces, hundreds have lost their lives since the attacks on Saturday. Vijayan said India had always adopted an empathetic stand towards the Palestinian people but a “slight deviation” has happened in recent times. “Israel was invading and infringing on the rights of Palestinians and that could not be accepted…that was India’s stand always,” he told a press meeting here.
Not just India but the entire world knows how much suffering the Palestinian people underwent, the Left veteran said. “The previous Indian governments had adopted a favourable and empathetic stand towards the Palestinians. It is unfortunate that a slight deviation happened in this latter,” the chief minister said. It was not the approach to be adopted by a country like India, he further said.
Vijayan, however, said that the ongoing developments in West Asia and the recent attack on Israel were the “utmost serious” issues, and reinstating peace in the region is the most significant thing. India should intervene and see that the conflict does not prolong, he said. The United Nations has already said many things (about the conflict) and steps should be taken for its effective implementation, he further said.
“The Indian government should make the necessary interventions for this. The Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister should take leadership roles for the same,” the chief minister said. He also made it clear that neither the CPI(M) nor its central committee have any confusion about the Israel-Palestine issue.
When asked about former health minister K K Shailaja’s recent Facebook post describing Hamas as a militant outfit, the CM said it should be asked to her and he has nothing to comment on the matter.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
